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HEAVEN 


WHERE  IT  IS,  ITS  INHABITANTS.  AND  HOVI 

TO  GET  THERE. 


THE  CERTAINTY  OF  GOD’s  PROMISE  OF  A 
LIFE  BEYOND  THE  GRAVE,  AND  THE  REWARDS 
THAT  ARE  IN  STORE  FOR  FAITHFUL  SERVICE. 


AS  GLEANED  FROM  SACRED  SCRIPTURE. 


And  the  city  had  no  need  of  the  son,  neither  or  the  moon  to  shin©  Sjt  sJi 
JO*  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof.” 


THE  MOODY  PRESS 

153  Institute  Place 

Chicago 


irrlEted  in  United  Statei  ot  Amerieo 


PREFACEo 


This  book,  upon  a  subject  that  is  verj  dear  to  me,  is 
sent  forth  in  the  hope  that  it  maj  give  comfort  and  edi 
fication  to  many;  that  the  weak 'may  be  strengthened, 
the  sorrowing  consoled,  and  the  despondent  encouraged 
to  look  vrith  increasing  faith  to  that  fairest  of  fair  cities 
in  the  Better  Land,  which  is  the  home  of  the  Kedeemei 
and  the  redeemed. 

A  leading  divine  has  recently  said:  “When  I  v/aa  a 
boy  I  thought  of  heaven  as  a  great  shining  city,  with 
vast  walls  and  domes  and  spires,  and  with  nobody  in  it 
excejit  white  angels,  who  were  strangers  to  me.  By  an,d 
by  my  little  brother  died,  and  I  thought  of  a  great  city 
with  walls  and  domes  and  spires,  and  a  flock  of  cold,  un~ 
known  angels,  and  one  little  fellow  that  I  was  acquainted 
with.  lie  was  the  only  one  that  I  knew  in  that  country, 
Then  another  brother  died,  and  there  were  two  that  I 
knew.  Then  my  acquaintances  began  to  die,  and  the 
number  continually  grew.  But  it  was  not  until  I  hau 
seat  one  of  mv  little  children  back  to  God,  that  1  begrar 


to  think  I  had  a  little  interest  there  mJself^  A  second, 
a  third,  a  fourth  went,  and  by  that  time  I  had  so  many 
acquaintances  in  heaven  that  1  did  not  see  any  more 
walls  and  domes  and  spires.  I  began  to  think  of  the 
residents  of  the  Celestial  City.  And  now  so  many  of 
my  acquaintances  have  gone  there,  that  it  sometimes 
seems  to  me  that  I  know  more  in  heaven  than  1  do  on 
earth.” 

May  the  thought  of  loved  ones  gone  before  give  addi¬ 
tional  joy  to  us  as  we  follow  in  the  way. 


Ibeaven: 

ITS  HOPE. 


<J^*orr]e 


unchangeable  home  is  for  you  and  for  me* 
Where  Jesus  of  Nazareth  stands; 

^e  King  of  ail  kingdoms  foiever  is  He, 

And  He  holdeth  our  crowns  in  His  hands, 

■^'□h,  how  sweet  it  will  be  in  that  beaatiful  landi, 
So  free  from  all  sorrow  and  pain; 

With  songs  on  our  lips  and  with  harps  in  our 
"oe  another  agaiiV^ 


CHAPTEE  I. 

ITS  HOPE. 


We  give  thanks  to  God  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Chri# 
^  *  for  the  HOPE  which  is  laid  up  for  you  in  heaven. 

Con.  i,  3,  5 

A  great  many  persons  imagine  that  anything  said 
about  heaven  is  only  a  matter  of  speculation.  The^ 
talk  about  heaven  much  as  they  would  about  the  air. 
Now  there  would  not  have  been  so  much  in  Scripture 
on  this  subject  if  God  had  wanted  to  leave  the  human 
race  in  darkness  about  it.  “  All  Scripture,”  we  are 
told,  “  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable 
for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction 
in  righteousness,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect 
— thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.”  II  Tim. 
iii,  16,  17.  AYliat  the  Bible  says  about  heaven  is  just 
as  true  as  what  it  says  about  everything  else.  The 
Bible  is  inspired.  What  we  are  taught  about  heaven 
could  not  have  come  to  us  in  any  other  way  than  by  in¬ 
spiration.  No  one  knew  anything  about  it  but  God, 
and  so  if  we  want  to  find  out  anything  about  it  we  have 
xo  turn  to  His  Word.  Dr.  Hodge,  of  Princeton,  says 

1 


8 


HEAVEN^, 


that  the  best  evidence  of  the  Bible  being  the  Word  of 
God  is  to  be  found  between  its  own  two  covers.  It 
proves  itself.  In  this  respect  it  is  like  Christ,  whose 
character  proclaimed  the  divinity  of  His  person. 
Christ  showed  Himself  more  than  man  by  what  He 
did.  The  Bible  shows  itself  more  than  a  human  book 
by  what  it  says. 

It  is  not,  however,  because  the  Bible  is  loriiten  with 
more  than  human  skill,  far  surpassing  Shakspeare  or 
any  other  human  author,  and  that  its  knowledge  of 
character  and  the  eloquence  it  contains  are  beyond  the 
powers  of  man,  that  we  believe  it  to  be  inspired.  Men’^^ 
ideas  differ  about  the  extent  to  which  human  skill  can 
be  carried,  but  the  reason  why  we  believe  the  Bible  to 
be  inspired  is  so  simple  that  the  humblest  child  of  God 
can  comprehend  it.  If  the  proof  of  its  divine  origin 
lay  in  its  wisdom  alone,  a  simple  and  uneducated  man 
might  not  be  able  to  believe  it.  We  believe  it  is  in¬ 
spired  because  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  could  noi 
have  come  from  God.  God  is  wise,  and  God  is  good. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  that  is  not  wise,  and 
there  is  nothing  in  it  that  is  not  good.  If  the  Bible 
had  anything  in  it  that  was  opposed  to  reason,  or  to 
our  sense  of  right,  then,  perhaps,  we  might  think  that 
it  was  like  all  the  books  in  the  world  that  are  written 
merely  by  men.  Books  that  are  only  human,  like 
merely  human  lives,  have  in  them  a  great  deal  that  is 
foolish  and  a  great  deal  that  is  wrong.  The  life  of 
Christ  alone  was  perfect,  being  both  human  and  divine. 
Not  one  of  the  other  volumes,  like  the  Koran,  that 
claims  divinity  of  origin,  agrees  wdth  common  sense. 
There  is  nothing  at  all  in  the  Bible  that  does  not 


{TS  HOPE, 


conform  to  common  sense.  What  it  tells  us  about  the 
world  having  been  destroyed  by  a  deluge,  and  Noah 
and  his  family  alone  being  saved,  is  no  more  wonder¬ 
ful  than  what  is  taught  in  the  schools,  that  all  of  the 
earth  we  see  now,  and  everything  upon  it,  came  out  ot 
a  ball  of  fire.  It  is  a  great  deal  easier  to  believe  that 
man  was  made  after  the  image  of  God,  than  to  believe, 
as  some  young  men  and  women  are  being  taught  now, 
that  he  is  the  offspring  of  a  monkey. 

Like  all  the  other  wonderful  works  of  God,  this  Book 
bears  the  sure  stamp  of  its  Author.  It  is  like  Him. 
Though  man  plants  the  seeds,  God  makes  the  flowers, 
and  they  are  perfect  and  beautiful  like  Himself.  Men 
wrote  what  is  in  the  Bible,  but  the  work  is  God’s.  The 
more  refined,  as  a  rule,  people  are,  the  fonder  they  are 
of  flowers,  and  the  better  they  are,  as  a  rule,  the  more 
they  love  the  Bible.  The  fondness  for  flowers  refines 
people,  and  the  love  of  the  Bible  makes  them  betteiv 
All  that  is  in  the  Bible  about  God,  about  man,  about 
redemption,  and  about  a  future  state,  agrees  with  our 
own  ideas  of  right,  with  our  reasonable  fears  and  with 
our  personal  experiencos.  All  the  historical  events  are 
described  in  the  w^ay  that  we  know  the  world  had  of 
looking  at  them  wdien  they  w^ere  WTitten.  What  the 
Bible  tells  about  heaven  is  not  half  so  strange  as  wha^ 
Prof.  Proctor  tells  about  the  hosts  of  stars  that  are  be¬ 
yond  the  range  of  any  ordinary  telescope;  and  yet 
people  very  often  think  that  science  is  all  fact,  and  that 
religion  is  only  fancy.  A  great  many  persons  think 
that  Jupiter  and  many  more  of  the  stars  around  us  are 
inhabited,  wdio  cannot  bring  themselves  to  believe  that 
ther*i  beyond  this  earth  a  life  for  immortal  soula 


10 


HEAVENS 


The  true  Christian  puts  faith  before  reason,  and  believes 
.^hat  reason  always  goes  wrong  when  faith  is  set  aside. 
If  people  would  but  read  their  Bibles  more,  and  study 
vhat  there  is  to  be  found  there  about  heaven,  they 
vould  not  be  as  worldly-minded  as  they  are.  They 
jvould  not  have  their  hearts  set  upon  things  down  here, 
^^ut  would  seek  the  imperishable  things  above. 

EARTH  THE  HOME  OF  SIN. 

It  seems  perfectly  reasonable  that  God  should  have 
given  us  a  glimpse  of  the  future,  for  we  are  constantly 
losing  some  of  our  friends  by  death,  and  the  first 
thought  that  comes  to  us  is,  “  Where  have  they  gone  ?” 
When  loved  ones  are  taken  away  from,  us  how  that 
thought  comes  up  before  us!  How  we  wonder  if  we 
will  ever  see  them  again,  and  where  and  when  it  will 
be !  Then  it  is  that  we  turn  to  this  blessed  Book,  for 
there  is  no  otlier  book  in  all  the  world  that  can  give 
us  the  slightest  comfort ;  no  other  book  that  can  tell  us 
where  the  loved  ones  have  gone. 

Not  long  ago  I  met  an  old  friend,  and  as  I  took  him 
Sy  the  hand  and  asked  after  his  family,  the  tears  came 
t'-’ckling  down  his  cheeks  as  he  said: 

“  I  haven’t  any  now.” 

“  What,”  I  said,  “  is  your  wife  dead?” 

“  Yes,  sir.” 

“  And  all  your  children,  too?  ” 

“Yes,  all  gone,”  he  said,  “  and  I  am  left  here  deso¬ 
late  and  alone.” 

Would  any  one  take  from  that  man  the  hope  that  he 
will  meet  his  dear  ones  again?  Would  any  one  per¬ 
suade  him  that  there  is  not  a  future  where  the  lost  will 


ITS  HOPE. 


11 


be  found?  No,  we  need  not  forget  our  dear  loved  ones ; 
but  we  may  cling  forever  to  the  enduring  hope  that 
there  will  be  a  time  when  we  can  meet  unfettered,  and 
be  blest  in  that  land  of  everlasting  suns,  where  the  soul 
drinks  from  the  living  streams  of  love  that  roll  by  God’s 
high  throne. 

In  our  inmost  hearts  there  are  none  of  us  but  haV8 
questionings  of  the  future. 

“  Tell  me,  my  secret  soul, 

O,  tell  me,  Hope  and  Faith, 

'  Is  there  no  resting-place 

From  sorrow,  sin  and  death? 

Is  there  no  happy  spot 

Where  mortals  may  be  blest, 

Where  grief  may  find  a  balm. 

And  weariness  a  rest? 

Faith,  Hope  and  Love — best  boons  to  mortals  given— 
Waved  their  bright  wings,  and  whispered: 

Yes,  in  heaven!  ” 

There  are  men  who  say  tliat  there  is  no  heaven.  I 
was  once  talking  with  a  man  who  said  he  thought  there 
was  nothing  to  justify  us  in  believing  in  any  other 
heaven  than  that  we  know  here  on  earth.  If  this  is 
heaven,  it  is  a  very  strange  one — this  world  of  sick» 
ness,  sorrow  and  sin.  I  pity  from  the  depths  of  my 
heart  the  man  or  woman  who  has  tliat  idea. 

This  world  that  some  think  is  heaven,  is  the  home  of 
sin,  a  hospital  of  sorrow,  a  place  that  has  nothing  in  it 
to  satisfy  the  soul.  Men  go  all  over  it  and  then  want  to 
get  out  of  it.  The  more  men  see  of  the  world  the  less 
they  think  of  it.  People  soon  grow  tired  of  the  best 
pleasures  it  has  to  offer.  Some  one  has  said  that  the 
world  is  a  storray  sea,  whose  every  wave  is  strewed  with 
the  wrecks  of  mortals  that  perish  in  it.  Every  time 


12 


HEAVEN. 


we  breathe  some  one  is  dying.  TV  e  all  hnow  that  we 
are  going  to  stay  here  but  a  very  little  while.  Our  life 
is  but  a  vapor.  It  is  only  a  shadow. 

“We  meet  one  another,”  as  some  one  has  said., 

“  salute  one  another,  pass  on  and  are  gone.”  And  an¬ 
other  has  said:  “  It  is  just  an  inch  of  time,  and  then 
eternal  ages  roll  onj”  and  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  per¬ 
fectly  reasonable  that  we  should  study  this  Book,  to 
find  out  where  we  are  going,  and  where  our  friends  are 
who  have  gone  on  before.  The  longest  time  man  has 
to  live  has  no  more  proportion  to  eternity  than  a  drop 
of  dew  has  to  the  ocean. 

CITIES  OF  THE  PAST. 

Look  at  the  cities  of  the  past.  There  is  Babylon. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  a  queen  named  Semi- 
ramis,  who  had  two  millions  of  men  at  work  for  years 
building  it.  It  is  nothing  but  dust  now.  Nearly  a 
thousand  years  ago,  a  historian  wrote  that  the  ruins  of 
Nebuchadnezzar’s  palace  were  still  standing,  but  men 
were  afraid  to  go  near  them  because  they  were  full  of 
scorpions  and  snakes.  That  is  the  sort  of  ruin  that 
greatness  often  comes  to  in  our  own  day.  Nineveh  is 
gone.  Its  towers  and  bastions  have  fallen.  The  trav¬ 
eler  who  tries  to  see  Carthage  cannot  find  much  of  it. 
Corinth,  once  the  seat  of  luxury  and  art,  is  only  a 
shapeless  mass.  Ephesus,  long  the  metropolis  of  Asia, 
the  Paris  of  that  day,  was  crowded  with  buildings  as 
large  as  the  capitol  at  Washington.  I  am  told  it  looks 
more  like  a  neglected  graveyard  now  than  anything 
else.  Granada,  once  so  grand,  with  its  twelve  gates 
and  tc^wers,  is  now  in  decay.  The  Alhambra,  the 


ITS  HOPE. 


13 


palace  of  the  Mohammedan  kings,  was  situated  there. 
Little  pieces  of  the  once  grand  and  beautiful  cities  of 
Ilerculaneeum  and  Pompeii  are  now  being  sold  in  the 
shops  for  relics.  Jerusalem,  once  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth,  is  but  a  shadow  of  its  former  self.  Thebes,  for 
thousands  of  years,  up  almost  to  the  coming  of  Christ, 
among  the  largest  and  wealthiest  cities  of  the  world,  is 
now  a  mass  of  decay.  But  little  of  ancient  Athens,  and 
many  more  ‘of  the  proud  cities  of  olden  times,  remain 
to  tell  the  story  of  their  downfall.  God  drives  his 
plowshare  through  cities,  and  they  are  upheaved  like 
furrows  in  the  field.  “Behold,”  says  Isaiah,  “the  na¬ 
tions  are  as  a  drop  of  a  bucket,  and  are  counted  °s  the 
small  dust  of  the  balance;  behold.  He  taketh  up  the 
isles  as  a  very  little  thing  ....  All  nations  before 
Him  are  as  nothing;  and  they  are  counted  to  Him  less 
than  nothing,  and  vanity.” 

See  how  Antioch  has  fallen.  "When  Paul  preached 
there,  it  w^as  a  superb  metropolis.  A  wfide  street  over 
three  miles  long,  stretching  across  the  entire  city,  was 
ornamented  with  rows  of  columns  and  covered  galler¬ 
ies,  and  at  every  corner  stood  carved  statues  to  com¬ 
memorate  their  great  men,  wdiose  names  even  we  have 
never  heard.  These  men  are  never  heard  of  now,  but 
the  poor  preaching  tent-maker  who  entered  its  portals 
stands  out  as  the  grandest  character  in  history.  The 
finest  specimens  of  Grecian  art  decorated  the  shrines 
of  the  temples,  and  the  baths  and  the  aqueducts  were 
such  as  are  never  approached  in  elegance  now.  Men 
then,  as  now,  were  seeking  honor,  wealth  and  renovni, 
and  enshrining  their  names  and  records  in  perishable 
clay.  AVithin  the  walls  of  Antioch,  we  are  told,  were 


HEAVEr^; 


enclosed  hills  over  seven  hundred  feet  high,  and  rocky 
precipices  and  deep  ravines  gave  a  vdld  and  picturesque 
character  to  the  place  of  which  no  modern  city  affords 
an  example.  These  heights  were  fortfied  in  a  marvel¬ 
ous  manner,  which  gave  to  them  strange  and  startling 
effects.  The  vast  population  of  this  brilliant  city,  com¬ 
bining  all  the  art  and  cultivation  of  (Sreece  with  the 
levity,  the  luxury  and  the  superstition  of  Asia,  was  as 
intent  on  pleasure  as  the  population  of  any  of  our  great 
cities  are  to-day.  The  citizens  had  their  shows,  their 
games,  their  races  and  dancers,  their  sorcerers,  puz¬ 
zlers,  buffoons  and  miracle- workers,  and  the  people 
sought  constantly  in  the  theaters  and  processions  for 
something  to  stimulate  and  gratify  the  most  corrupt 
desires  of  human  nature.  This  is  pretty  much  what 
we  find  the  masses  of  the  people  in  our  great  cities  do¬ 
ing  now. 

Antioch  was  even  worse  than  Athens,  for  the  so. 
called  worship  they  indulged  in  was  not  only  idolatrous, 
out  had  mixed  up  with  it  the  grossest  passions  to  which 
man  descends.  It  was  here  that  Paul  came  to  preach 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  it  was  here 
that  the  disciples  were  first  called  Christians,  as  a  nick¬ 
name;  all  followers  of  Christ  before  that  time  having 
been  called  “saints”  or  “brethren.”  As  has  been  well 
said,  out  of  that  spring  at  Antioch  a  mighty  stream 
has  flowed  to  water  the  world.  Astarte,  the  “  Queen  of 
Heaven,”  whom  they  worshiped;  Diana,  Apollo,  the 
Pharisee  and  Saducee,  are  no  more,  but  the  despised 
Christians  yet  live.  Yet  that  heathen  city,  which  would 
not^  take  Christianity  to  its  Imart  and  keep  it,  fell. 
Cities  that  have  not  the  refining  and  restraining 


ITS  HOPE, 


16 


influences  of  Christianity  well  established  in  them^ 
seldom  do  amount  to  much  in  the  long  run.  They  grow 
dim  in  the  light  of  ages.  Few  of  our  great  cities  ir 
this  country  are  a  hundred  years  old  as  yet.  For  nearlj^ 
a  thousand  years  this  city  prospered;  yet  it  felL 

GOING  TO  EMIGRATE. 

1  do  not  think  that  it  is  wrong  for  us  to  think  and 
talk  about  heaven.  I  like  to  locate  heaven,  and  find 
9ut  all  I  can  about  it.  I  exp>  ct  to  live  there  through  all 
eternity.  If  I  were  goii  g  to  dwell  in  any  place  in  this 
country,  if  I  were  going  to  make  it  my  home,  I  would 
want  to  inquire  about  the  place,  about  its  climate,  aboui 
the  neighbors  I  would  nave,  about  everything,  in  fact, 
that  I  could  learn  concerning  it.  If  any  of  you  w^ere 
going  to  emigrate,  that  would  be  the  way  you  would 
feel.  Weil,  we  are  are  all  going  to  emigrate  in  a  very 
little  while  to  a  country  that  is  very  far  away.  We  are 
going  to  spend  eternity  in  another  world,  a  grand  and 
glorious  world  where  God  reigns.  Is  it  not  natural, 
then,  that  we  should  look  and  listen  and  try  to  find  oul 
who  is  already  there,  and  what  is  the  rout^  to  take? 

Soon  after  I  Avas  converted,  an  infidel  asked  me  one 
day  Avhy  I  looked  vp  when  I  prayed.  He  said  that 
heaven  Avas  no  more  above  us  than  below  us;  that 
heaven  Avas  eA^erywhere.  Well,  I  Avas  greatly  beiTib 
dered,  and  the  next  time  I  prayed,  it  seemed  almost  as 
if  I  was  praying  into  the  air.  Sinc^  then  I  have  become 
better  acquainted  Avith  the  Bible,  and  I  have  c<.me  tc 
see  that  heaven  is  above  us ;  that  it  is  upward,  and  no» 
downAvard.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  everywhere,  but  God 
la  in  heaven,  and  heaven  is  above  our  heads.  It  does 


V. 


HEAVEN: 


uot  matter  wliat  part  of  the  globe  we  may  stand  upoLi, 
heaven  is  above  us. 

In  the  17th  chapter  of  Genesis  it  says  that  God 
went  up  from  Abraham;  and  in  the  3d  chapter  of  John, 
that  the  Son  of  Man  came  dow7i  from  heaven.  So,  in 
the  1st  chapter  of  Acts  we  find  that  Christ  went  up  in¬ 
to  heaven  (not  down),  and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of 
sight.  Thus  we  see  heaven  is  up.  The  very  arrange¬ 
ment  of  the  firmament  about  the  earth  declares  the  seat 
of  God’s  glory  to  be  above  us.  Job  says:  “  Let  not  God 
regard  it  from  ahovey  Again,  in  Deuteronomy,  we 
find,  “  who  shall  go  up  for  us  to  heaven  ?  ”  Thus, 
all  through  Scripture  we  find  that  we  are  given  the 
location  of  heaven  as  upward  and  beyond  the  firma¬ 
ment.  This  firmament,  with  its  many  bright  worlds 
scattered  through,  is  so  vast  that  heaven  must  be  an  ex¬ 
tensive  realm.  Yet  this  need  not  surprise  us.  It  is 
not  for  short-sighted  man  to  inquire  why  God  made 
heaven  so  extensive  that  its  lights  along  the  way  can 
be  seen  from  any  part  or  side  of  this  little  world. 

In  Jeremiah  H,  15,  we  are  told:  “  He  hath  made 
the  earth  by  His  power ;  He  hath  established  the  world 
by  Bis  wisdom,  and  hath  stretched  out  the  heaven  by 
His  understanding.”  Yet  how  little  we  really  know  of 
that  power,  or  wisdom  or  understanding !  As  we  read  in 
Job:  “  Tjo,  these  are  parts  of  his  ways;  but  how  little  a 
portion  IS  heara  oi  Him  ?  But  the  thunder  of  His  power, 
who  can  understand?  ” 

Tins  is  tile  word  of  God.  As  we  find  in  the  42nd 
chapter  of  Isaiah:  “Thus  saith  God  the  Lord,  He 
that  created  the  heavens  and  stretched  them  out;  He 
that  spread  forth  the  earth,  and  that  which  cometh  out 


XTS  HOPE, 


11 


of  it ;  He  that  giveth  bread  unto  the  people  upon  it,  and 
spirit  to  them  that  walk  within.” 

The  discernment  of  God’s  power,  the  messages  of 
heaven,  do  not  always  come  in  great  things.  We  read 
in  the  19th  chapter  of  the  first  book  of  Kings: 

“  And,  behold,  the  Lord  passed  by,  and  a  great  and  strong  wind 
rent  the  mountains,  and  brake  in  pieces  the  rocks  before  the  Lordj 
but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  wind;  and  after  the  wind  an  earth¬ 
quake;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  earthquake;  and  after  the  earth¬ 
quake  a  fire;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire;  and  after  the  fiire  a 
still  small  voice.” 

It  is  as  a  still  small  voice  that  God  speaks  to  His 
children.  Some  people  are  trying  to  find  out  just  how 
far  heaven  is  away.  There  is  one  thing  we  know  about 
it;  that  is,  that  is  not  so  far  away  but  that  God  can 

hear  us  when  we  pray.  I  do  not  believe  there  has 

ever  been  a  tear  shed  for  sin  since  Adam’s  fall  in  Eden 
to  the  present  time,  but  God  has  witnessed  it.  He  is 
not  too  far  from  earth  for  us  to  go  to  Him;  and 

if  there  is  a  sigh  that  comes  from  a  burdened  heart 

to-day,  God  will  hear  that  sigh.  If  there  is  a  cry 
coming  up  from  a  heart  broken  on  account  of  sin,  God 
will  hear  that  cry.  He  is  not  so  far  away,  heaven  is 
not  so  far  away,  as  to  be  inaccessible  to  the  smallest 
child.  In  II  Chronicles  we  read: 

“  If  My  people,  which  are  called  by  My  name,  shall  humble  them¬ 
selves,  and  pray,  and  seek  My  face,  and  turn  from  their  wicked 
ways,  then  will  I  hear  from  heaven,  and  will  forgive  them  their 
sins,  and  will  heal  their  land.” 

When  I  was  in  Dublin,  they  vere  telling  me  about 
a  father  who  had  lost  a  little  boy.  This  father  had  not 
thought  about  the  future,  he  had  been  so  entirely  taken 
up  with  this  world  and  its  affairs ;  but  when  that  little 
boy,  hi3  on"y  child,  ^lied,  that  father’s  heart  was  brokeru 


18 


BEAVEN: 


and  every  night  when  he  returned  from  work  he 
might  be  found  in  his  room  with  his  candle  and  his 
Bible,  hunting  up  all  that  he  could  find  there  about 
heaven.  Some  one  asked  him  what  he  was  doing, 
and  he  said  he  was  trying  to  find  out  where  his 
child  had  gone,  and  I  think  he  was  a  reasonable  man. 
I  suppose  no  one  will  ever  read  this  page  who  has  not 
dear  ones  that  are  gone.  Shall  we  close  this  Book  to¬ 
day,  or  shall  we  look  into  it  to  try  to  find  where  the 
loved  ones  are  ?  I  was  reading,  some  time  ago,  an  ac¬ 
count  of  a  father,  a  minister,  who  had  lost  a  child.  He 
had  gone  to  a  great  many  funerals,  offering  com¬ 
fort  to  others  in  sorrow,  but  now  the  iron  had  entered 
his  own  soul,  and  a  brother  minister  had  come  to  offici¬ 
ate  and  preach  the  funeral  sermon ;  and  after  this  min¬ 
ister  had  finished  speaking,  the  father  got  up,  and 
standing  at  the  head  of  the  coffin,  he  said  that  a  few 
years  ago,  when  he  had  first  come  into  that  parish, 
as  he  used  to  look  over  the  river  he  took  no  interest  ir 
the  people  over  there,  because  they  were  all  strangera 
to  him  and  there  were  none  over  there  that  belonged 
to  his  parish.  But,  he  said,  a  few  years  ago  a  young  man 
came  into  his  home,  and  married  his  daughter,  and  she 
went  over  the  river  to  live,  and  when  his  child  went  over 
there,  he  became  suddenly  interested  in  the  inhabitants, 
and  every  morning  as  he  arose  he  would  look  out  of  the 
window  across  the  river  to  her  home.  “  But  now,’* 
said  he,  “  another  child  has  been  taken.  She  has  gone 
over  another  river,  and  heaven  seems  dearer  and  nearer 
to  me  now  than  it  ever  has  before.” 

My  friends,  let  us  believe  this  good  old  Book,  be 
confident  that  heaven  is  not  a  myth,  and  be  prepared  to 


ITS  HOPE, 


19 


follow  tlie  dear  ones  who  have  gone  before.  Thus,  and 
thus  alone,  can  we  find  the  peace  we  seek  for. 

SEEKING  A  BETTER  COUNTRY. 

What  has  been,  and  is  now,  one  of  the  strongest  feel¬ 
ings  in  the  human  heart?  Is  it  not  to  find  some  bet¬ 
ter  place,  some  lovelier  spot,  than  Tve  have  now?  It  is 
for  this  that  men  are  seeking  everywhere;  and  they 
can  have  it  if  they  will;  but  instead  of  looking  down, 
they  must  look  iij:)  to  find  it.  As  men  grow  in  knowl¬ 
edge,  they  vie  with  each  other  more  and  more  in  mak¬ 
ing  their  homes  attractive,  but  the  brightest  home  on 
earth  is  but  an  empty  barn,  compared  with  the  man¬ 
sions  in  the  skies. 

What  is  it  that  we  look  for  at  the  decline  and  close 
of  life?  Is  it  not  some  sheltered  place,  some  quiet 
spot,  where,  if  we  cannot  have  constant  rest,  we  may  at 
least  have  a  foretaste  of  the  rest  that  is  to  be  ?  What 
was  it  that  led  Columbus,  not  knowing  what  would  be 
his  fate,  across  the  unsailed  western  seas,  if  it  were  not 
the  hope  of  finding  a  better  country  ?  This  it  was  that 
sustained  the  hearts  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  driven 
from  their  native  land  by  persecution,  as  they  faj*ed  ar 
iron-bound,  savage  coast,  with  an  unexplored  territory 
beyond.  They  were  cheered  and  upheld  by  the  hops 
of  reaching  a  free  and  fruitful  country,  where  they 
could  be  at  rest  and  worship  God  in  peacs. 

Somewhat  similar  is  the  Christian’s  ho]'e  oi  heaven^ 
only  it  is  not  an  undiscovered  country,  and  In  attrac¬ 
tions  cannot  be  compared  with  anything  wo  know  oil 
earth.  Perhaps  nothing  but  the  shortness  of  our  range 
of  sight  keeps  us  from  seeing  the  celestial  gates  all 


HEAVEN: 


20 

open  to  ns,  and  nothing  but  the  deafness  of  our  ears 
prevents  our  hearing  the  joyful  ringing  of  the  bells  of 
heaven.  There  are  constant  sounds  around  us  that  we 
cannot  hear,  and  the  sky  is  studded  with  bright  worlds 
that  our  eyes  have  never  seen.  Little  as  we  know 
about  this  bright  and  radiant  land,  there  are  glimpses 
of  its  beauty  that  come  to  us  now  and  then. 

“  We  may  not  know  how  sweet  its  balmy  air, 

How  bright  and  fair  its  flowers; 

We  may  not  hear  the  songs  that  echo  there? 

Through  these  enchanted  bowers. 

“  The  city’s  sliining  towers  we  may  not  see 
With  our  dim  earthly  vision, 

For  Death,  the  silent  warder,  keeps  the  key 
That  opes  the  gates  Elysian. 

“  But  sometimes  when  adown  the  western  sky 
A  fiery  sunset  lingers, 

Its  golden  gate  swngs  inward  noiselessly, 

Unlocked  by  unseen  fingers. 

“  And  while  they  stand  a  moment  half  ajar, 

Gleams  from  the  inner  glory 
Stream  brightly  through  the  azure  vault  afar, 

And  half  reveal  the  story.” 

It  is  said  by  travelers  that  in  climbing  the  Alps  the 
houses  of  far  distant  villages  can  be  seen  with  great 
distinctness,  so  that  sometimes  the  number  of  panea 
of  glass  in  a  church  window  can  be  counted.  The 
distance  looks  so  short  that  the  place  to  which  the  trav¬ 
eler  is  journeying  appears  almost  at  hand,  but  after 
hours  and  hours  of  climbing  it  seems  no  nearer  yet. 
This  if  oecause  of  the  clearness  of  the  atmosphere. 
By  perseverance,  however,  the  place  is  reached  at  last, 
and  the  tired  traveler  finds  rest.  So  sometimes  we 
dwell  in  high  altitudes  of  iofrace ;  heaven  seems  very  near^ 


ITS  HOPE 


21 


and  the  hills  of  Beulah  are  in  full  view.  At  other 
times  the  clouds  and  fogs  caused  by  suffering  and  sin 
cut  off  our  sight.  We  are  just  as  near  heaven  in  the 
one  case  as  we  are  in  the  other,  and  we  are  just  as  sure 
of  gaining  it  if  we  only  keep  in  the  path  that  Christ 
has  pointed  out. 

I  have  read  that  on  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic  sea  the 
wives  of  fishermen,  whose  husbands  have  gone  far  out 
upon  the  deep,  are  in  the  habit  of  going  down  to  the 
sea-shore  at  night  and  singing  with  their  sweet  voices 
the  first  verse  of  some  beautiful  hymn.  After  they 
have  sung  it  they  listen  until  they  hear  brought  on  the 
wind,  across  the  sea,  the  second  verse  sung  by  their 
brave  husbands  as  they  are  tossed  by  the  gale — and 
both  are  happy.  Perhaps,  if  we  would  listen,  we  too 
might  hear  on  this  storm-tossed  world  of  ours,  some 
sound,  some  whisper,  borne  from  afar  to  tell  us  there 
is  a  Heaven  which  is  our  home ;  and  when  we  sing  our 
hymns  upon  the  shores  of  the  earth,  perhaps  we  may 
hear  their  sweet  echoes  breaking  in  music  upon  the 
sands  of  time,  and  cheering  the  hearts  of  those  who 
are  pilgrims  and  strangers  along  the  way.  Yes,  we 
need  to  look  up — out,  beyond  this  low  earth,  and  to 
build  higher  in  our  thoughts  and  actions,  even  here! 

You  know,  when  a  man  is  going  up  in  a  balloon,  he 
takes  in  sand  as  ballast,  and  when  he  wants  to  mount  a 
little  higher,  he  throws  out  some  of  it,  and  then  he 
will  mount  a  little  higher;  he  throws  out  a  little  more 
ballast,  and  he  mounts  still  higher;  and  the  more  he 
throws  out  the  higher  he  gets,  and  so  the  more  we 
liave  to  throw  out  of  the  things  of  this  world  the  nearer 
we  get  to  God.  Let  go  of  them;  let  us  not  set  our 


HEAVEN^ 


hearts  and  affections  on  them,  but  do  what  the  Master 
tells  us — lay  up  for  ourselves  treasures  in  heaven. 

In  England  I  was  told  of  a  lady  who  had  been  bed¬ 
ridden  for  years.  She  was  one  of  those  saints  whom 
God  polishes  up  for  the  kingdom ;  for  I  believe  there 
are  many  saints  in  this  world  whom  we  never  hear 
about;  we  never  see  their  names  heralded  through  the 
press;  they  live  very  near  the  Master;  they  live  very 
near  heaven ;  and  I  think  it  takes  a  great  deal  more 
grace  to  suffer  God’s  will  than  it  does  to  do  it;  and  if 
a  person  lies  on  a  bed  of  sickness,  and  suffers  cheer¬ 
fully,  it  is  just  as  acceptable  to  God  as  if  they  went 
out  and  worked  in  His  vineyard. 

Now  this  lady  was  of  those  saints.  She  said  that 
for  a  long  time  she  used  to  have  a  great  deal  of 
pleasure  in  watching  a  bird  that  came  to  make  its  nest 
near  her  window.  One  year  it  came  to  make  its  nest, 
and  it  began  to  build  so  low  down  she  was  afraid  some¬ 
thing  would  happen  to  the  young;  and  every  day  that 
she  saw  that  bird  busy  at  work  making  its  nest,  she 
kept  saying,  “Obird,  build  higher !  ”  She  could  see 
tliat  the  bii’d  was  likely  to  come  to  grief  and  disap¬ 
pointment.  At  last  the  bird  got  its  nest  done,  and  laid 
its  eggs  and  hatched  its  young;  and  every  morning  the 
lady  looked  out  to  see  if  the  nest  was  there,  and  she 
sa\v  the  old  bird  bringing  food  for  the  little  ones,  and 
she  took  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  looking  at  it.  But 
one  morning  she  awoke,  looked  out,  and  she  saw  nothing 
but  featliers  scattered  all  around,  and  she  said:  “Ah, 
xhe  cat  has  got  the  old  bird  and  all  her  young.”  It  would 
have  been  v  kindness  to  have  torn  that  nest  dowm 
V-hat  ife  what  God  do^s  for  us  very  often — just  snatches 


rrs  BOFK 


23 


things  away  before  it  is  too  late.  Now,  I  think  that 
is  what  we  want  to  say  to  professing  Christians — if 
you  build  for  time  you  will  be  disappointedc  God 
says:  Build  up  yonder.  It  is  a  good  deal  better  to 
have  life  with  Christ  in  God  than  anywhere  else.  I 
would  rather  have  my  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God  than 
be  in  Eden  as  Adam  was.  Adam  might  have  remained 
in  Paradise  for  16,000  years,  and  then  fallen,  but  M 
Qur  life  is  hid  in  Christ,  how  safe? 


^orrje. 


BY  ANNA  SHIPTON. 


O  Lord,  ’twas  Thine  to  labor  and  wear  the  thorns  for  me; 
Thou  sharest  all  my  sorrows;  Thou  knowest  what  ’twill  be 
To  see  the  Father’s  glory,  to  hear  Thy  welcome  there, 

Where  never  cross  or  burden  remains  for  us  to  bear. 

I  seem  to  pace  the  ghttering  street,  and  hear  the  harps  of  gold, 
The  echo  of  the  new  song  that  never  groweth  old; 

I  hear  Thy  praise,  Lord  Jesus,  my  Life,  my  Lord,  my  King, 
Until  my  worn  heart  pineth  the  strains  of  heaven  to  sing. 

Safe  in  the  better  co  mtry  my  loved  ones  I  shall  find, 

And  some  in  that  bright  multitude  I  feared  were  left  behind ; 
Then  loud  shall  sound  our  praises  within  the  jasper  wall. 

As  cherubim  and  seraphim  before  the  Holiest  fall. 

With  folded  wings,  expectant,  the  angel  bands  will  come 
To  hsten  to  the  tale  of  grace  that  wooed  the  children  home; 
And  sitting  at  Thy  feet,  Lord,  my  joyful  lips  shall  tell 
How  much  He  hath  forgiven,  who  “  doeth  all  things  well.” 

Thou  blessed  Spirit,  cheering  this  valley  land  for  me. 

With  ghmpses  of  the  glory  of  that  which  soon  shall  be; 

Each  harpstring,  dull  and  broken.  Thy  gentle  breath  awaits; 
Then  let  me  sing  of  Jesus  up  to  the  golden  gates. 


(sH°ca'?ent 


ITS  INHABITANTS. 


(jK  TsittPe  ©y/a^. 


A  little  way!  I  know  it  is  not  far 
To  that  dear  home  where  my  beloved  are; 

And  still  my  heart  sits,  like  a  bird,  upon 
The  empty  nest,  and  mourns  its  treasures  gone, 
Plumed  for  their  flight, 

And  vanished  quite. 

Ah  me!  Where  is  the  comfort?  Though  I  say 
They  have  but  journeyed  on  a  little  way. 

“  A  little  way!  At  times  they  seem  so  near, 
Their  voices  even  murmur  in  my  ear. 

To  all  my  duties  loving  presence  lend, 

And  with  sweet  ministry  my  steps  attend. 

’Twas  here  we  met  and  parted  company; 

Why  should  their  gain  be  such  a  grief  to  me? 
This  sense  of  loss! 

This  heavy  cross: 

Dear  Savior,  take  the  burden  off,  I  pray, 

And  show  me  heaven  is  but — a  little  way. 

“  A  little  way?  The  sentence  I  repeat, 

Hoping  and  longing  to  extract  some  sweet 
To  mingle  with  the  bitter;  from  Thy  hand 
I  take  the  cup  I  cannot  understand. 

And  in  my  weakness  give  myself  to  Thee. 
Although  it  seems  so  very,  very  far 
To  that  dear  home  where  my  beloved  are, 

I  know,  I  know. 

It  is  not  so; 

Oh,  give  me  faith  to  believe  it  when  I  say 
That  they  are  gone — gone  but  a  little  way.” 

— Anon. 


KT8  INBAB1TA.NT8 


27 


CHAPTER  ri 

ITS  INHABITANTS 


The  inhabitant  shall  not  say,  I  am  sick.  The  people  that  dw^ 
therein  shall  be  forgiven  their  iniquity.  Isaiah  xxxiii,  34. 

The  society  of  heaven  will  be  select.  No  one  who 
studies  Scripture  can  doubt  that.  There  are  a  good 
many  kinds  of  aristocracy  in  this  world,  but  the  aris¬ 
tocracy  of  heaven  will  be  the  aristocracy  of  holiness. 
The  humblest  believer  on  earth  will  be  an  aristocrat 
there.  It  says  in  the  oTth  chapter  of  Isaiah;  *‘For 
thus  saith  the  High  and  Lofty  One,  that  inhab- 
iteth  eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy:  I  dwell  in  the 
high  and  holy  place  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  contrite 
and  humble  spirit.”  Now  what  could  be  plainer  than 
that?  No  one  who  is  not  of  a  contrite  and  humble 
spirit  will  dwell  with  God  in  His  high  and  holy 
place. 

If  there  is  anything  that  ought  to  make  heaven  near 
to  Christians,  it  is  knowing  that  God  and  all  their  loved 
ones  will  be  there.  What  is  it  that  makes  home  so  at¬ 
tractive  ?  Is  it  because  we  have  a  beautiful  home  ?  Is 
it  because  we  have  beautiful  lawns?  Is  it  because  we 
have  beautiful  trees  around  us  ?  Is  it  because  we  have 
beautiful  paintings  upon  the  walls  inside  ?  Is  it  be¬ 
cause  we  have  beautiful  furniture?  Is  that  all  that 


HEAVEN t 


makes  home  so  attractive  and  beautiful?  Nay,  it  is 
the  loved  ones  in  it;  it  is  the  loved  ones  there. 

I  remember  after  being  away  from  home  some  time, 
i  went  back  to  see  my  honored  mother,  and  I  thought 
in  going  back  I  would  take  her  by  surprise,  and  steal  in 
unexpectedly  upon  her,  but  when  I  found  she  had  gone 
away,  the  old  place  didn’t  seem  like  home  at  all.  I 
went  into  one  room  and  then  into  another,  and  all 
through  the  house,  but  I  could  not  find  that  loved 
mother,  and  I  asked  some  member  of  the  family, 
“  Where  is  mother  ?  ”  and  they  said  she  had  gone  away. 
Well,  home  had  lost  its  charm  to  me;  it  was  that  mother 
who  made  home  so  sweet  to  me,  and  it  is  the  loved  ones 
who  make  home  so  sweet  to  every  one ;  it  is  the  presence 
of  the  loved  ones  that  will  make  heaven  so  sweet  to  all 
of  us.  Christ  is  there ;  God,  the  Father,  is  there ;  and 
many,  many  'who  were  dear  to  us  when  they  lived  on 
earth  are  there — and  we  shall  be  with  them  by  and  by. 

We  find  clearly  in  the  18th  chapter  of  Matthew,  10th 
verse,  that  the  angels  are  there:  “  Take  heed  that  ye 
despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones ;  for  I  say  unto  you, 
that  in  heaven,  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face 
of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.” 

“Their  angels  do  always  behold  the  Father’s  face!” 
We  shall  have  good  company  up  there;  not  only  those 
who  have  been  redeemed,  but  those  who  have  never 
been  lost;  those  who  have  never  known  what  it  is  to 
transgress ;  those  who  have  never  known  what  it  is  to  be 
disobedient;  who  have  obeyed  Him  from  the  very  morn¬ 
ing  of  creation. 

It  says  in  Luke  i,  when  Gabriel  came  down  to  tell 
Zachariah  that  he  was  to  be  the  father  of  the  forerunner 


ITS  INHABITANTS, 


29 


Jesus  Christ,  Zachariah  doubted  him;  he  had  never 
been  doubted  before ;  and  that  doubt  is  met  with  the 
declaration:  “I  am  Gabriel,  that  standeth  in  the 
presence  of  God.”  What  a  glorious  thing  to  be  able 
to  say! 

It  has  been  said  that  there  will  be  three  things 
which  will  surprise  us  when  we  get  to  heaven — one,  to 
find  many  wdiom  we  did  not  expect  to  find  there;  an¬ 
other,  to  find  some  not  there  whom  we  had  expected; 
a  third,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  wonder — to  find  our¬ 
selves  there. 

A  poor  woman  once  told  Rowland  Hill  that  the  way 
to  heaven  was  short,  easy  and  simple;  comprising  only 
three  steps — out  of  self,  into  Christ,  and  into  glory. 
We  have  a  shorter  way  now — out  of  self  and  into 
Christ,  and  we  are  there.  As  a  dead  man  cannot  in¬ 
herit  an  estate,  no  more  can  a  dead  soul  inherit  heaven. 
The  soul  must  be  raised  up  in  Christ.  Among  the 
good  whom  we  hope  to  meet  in  heaven,  we  are  told, 
there  will  be  every  variety  of  character,  taste,  and  dis¬ 
position.  There  is  not  one  mansion  there;  there  are 
many.  There  is  not  one  gate  to  heaven,  but  many. 
There  are  not  only  three  gates  on  the  north ;  but  on  the 
east  three  gates,  and  on  the  west  three  gates,  and  on 
the  south  three  gates.  From  opposite  divisions  of  the 
theological  compass,  from  opposing  standpoints  of  the 
religious  world,  from  different  quarters  of  human  life 
and  character,  through  various  expressions  of  their 
common  faith  and  hope,  through  diverse  modes  of  con¬ 
version,  through  different  portions  of  the  Holy  Scrip¬ 
ture,  will  the  weary  travelers  enter  the  Heavenly  City, 
and  meet  each  other — “not  without  sui’prise” — on  the 


30 


HEAVE^; 


shores  of  the  same  river  of  life.  And  on  those  shores 
they  will  find  a  tree  bearing,  not  the  same  kind  of  fruit 
always  and  at  all  times,  but  “twelve  manner  of  fruits,” 
for  every  different  turn  of  mind, — for  the  patient  suf¬ 
ferer,  for  the  active  servant,  for  the  hohr  and  humble 
philosopher,  for  the  spirits  of  just  men  now  at  last  made 
perfect;  and  “the  leaves  of  the  tree  shall  be  for  the 
healing,”  not  of  one  single  church  or  people  only,  not 
for  the  Scotchman  or  the  Englishman  only,  but  for  the 
“  healing  of  the  nations,” — the  Frenchman,  the  Ger¬ 
man,  the  Italian,  the  Russian — for  all  those  from  whom 
it  may  be,  in  this  world,  its  fruits  have  been  farthest 
removed,  but  who,  nevertheless,  have  “  hungered  and 
thirsted  after  righteousness,”  and  who  therefore  “shall 
be  filled.” 

An  eminent  living  divine  says :  “  When  I  was  a  boy, 

I  thought  of  heaven  as  a  great,  shining  city,  with  vast 
walls  and  domes  and  spires,  and  with  nobody  in  it  ex¬ 
cept  white-robed  angels,  who  were  strangers  to  me. 
By  and  by  my  little  brother  died ;  and  I  thought  of  a 
great  city  with  walls  and  domes  and  spires,  and  a  flock 
of  cold,  unknown  angels,  and  one  little  fellow  that  I 
was  acquainted  with.  He  was  the  only  one  I  knew  at 
that  time.  Then  another  brother  died ;  and  there  were 
two  that  I  knew.  Then  my  acquaintances  began  to 
die;  and  the  flock  continually  grew.  But  it  was  not 
till  I  had  sent  one  of  my  little  children  to  his  Heavenly 
Parent — God — that  I  began  to  think  I  had  a  little  in 
myself.  A  second  went,  a  third  went;  a  fourth  went; 
and  by  that  time  I  had  so  many  acquaintances  in 
heaven,  that  I  did  not  see  any  more  walls  and  domes 
and  spires.  I  began  to  think  of  th^  residents  of  the 


ITS  INHABITANTS. 


celestial  city  as  my  friends.  And  now  so  many  of  my 
icquaintances  have  gone  there,  that  it  sometimes  seems 
CO  me  that  I  know  more  people  in  heaven  than  I  do  OB 
earth.” 

WE  SHALL  LIVE  FOREVER. 

It  says  in  John  xii,  26:  “If  any  man  serve  Me,  let 
him  follow  Me;  and  where  I  am,  there  shall  also  My 
servant  be.” 

I  cannot  agree  with  some  people,  that  Paul  has  been 
sleeping  in  the  grave,  and  is  still  there,  after  the  storms 
of  eighteen  hundred  years.  I  cannot  believe  that  he 
who  loved  the  Master,  who  had  such  a  burning  zeal 
for  Him,  has  been  separated  from  Him  in  an  uncon-, 
scions  state.  “  Father,  I  will  that  they  also,  whom 
Thou  hast  given  Me,  be  with  Me  where  I  am ;  that  they 
may  behold  My  glory,  which  Thou  hast  given  Me.” 
This  is  Christ’s  prayer. 

Now  when  a  man  believes  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
he  receives  eternal  life.  A  great  many  people  make  a 
mistake  right  there;  “  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son 
hath — h-a-t-h — hath  eternal  life ;  ”  it  does  not  say  he 
shall  have  it  when  he  comes  to  die ;  it  is  in  the  present 
tense ;  it  is  mine  now — if  I  believe.  It  is  the  gift  of 
God,  that  is  enough.  You  cannot  bury  the  gift  of  God: 
you  cannot  bury  eternal  life.  All  the  grave-dig¬ 
gers  in  the  world  cannot  dig  a  grave  large  enough 
and  deep  enough  to  hold  eternal  life;  all  the  coffin- 
makers  in  the  world  cannot  make  a  coffin  large  enough 
and  strong  enough  to  hold  eternal  life;  it  is  mine; 
it  is  mine! 

I  believe  when  l^aul  said;  “To  be  absent  from  the 


32 


HEAVENi 


body  and  present  with  the  Lord,”  he  meant  what  he 
said ;  that  he  was  not  going  to  be  separated  from  Him 
for  eighteen  hundred  years ;  the  spirit  that  was  given 
him  when  he  wa^  converted  he  had  from  a  new  life  and 
a  new  nature,  and  they  could  not  lay  that  away  in  the 
sepulchre ;  they  could  not  bury  it,  that  flew  to  meet  its 
Maker.  Even  the  body  shall  be  raised;  this  body, 
sown  in  dishonor,  shall  be  raised  in  glory;  this  body 
which  has  known  corruption,  shall  put  on  incorruption, 
and  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality.  It  is  only  a 
question  of  time.  The  great  morning  of  the  world 
will,  by-and-by,  dawn  upon  the  earth,  and  the  dead  shall 
come  forth  and  shall  hear  the  voice  of  Him  who  is  “  the 
resurrection  and  the  life.” 

Paul  says:  “If  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle 
were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.”  He  could 
take  down  the  clay  temple,  and  leave  that,  but  he  had  a 
better  house.  He  says  in  one  place:  “I  am  in  a  strait  be« 
twixt  two :  having  a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better,  nevertheless  to  abide  in  the  flesh  is 
7i2iore  needful  for  you.  To  me.  it  is  a  sweet  thought  to 
think  that  death  does  not  separate  us  from  the  Ma&. 
ter.  A  great  many  people  are  living  continually  in 
the  bondage  of  death,  but  if  I  have  eternal  life,  death 
cannot  touch  that ;  it  may  touch  the  house  I  live  in ;  it 
may  change  my  countenance  and  send  my  body  away 
to  ^e  grave,  but  it  cannot  touch  this  new  life. 

To  me  It  is  very  sad  to  think  that  so  many  professed 
Christians  look  upon  death  as  they  do.  I  received  some 
time  ago  a  letter  from  a  friend  in  London,  and  I 
thought,  as  I  read  it,  I  would  take  it  and  show  it  to 


ITS  INHABITANTS, 


dg 

other  people  and  see  if  I  could  not  get  them  to  look 
upon  death  as  this  friend  does.  He  had  lost  his  beloved 
mother.  In  England  it  is  a  very  common  thing  to  send 
out  cards  in  memory  of  the  departed  ones,  and  they  put 
upon  them  great  borders  of  black — sometimes  a  quar¬ 
ter  of  an  inch  of  black  border — but  this  friend  had  put 
on  a  gold  border;  he  did  not  put  on  black  at  all  ;  his 
mother  had  gone  to  the  golden  city,  and  so  he  put  on  a 
golden  border;  and  I  think  it  a  good  deal  better  than 
black.  I  think  when  our  friends  die,  instead  of  putting 
a  great  black  border  upon  our  memorials  to  make  them 
look  dark,  it  would  be  better  for  us  to  put  on  gold. 

It  is  not  death  at  all ;  it  is  life.  Some  one  said  to  a 
person  dying:  “  Well,  you  are  in  the  land  of  the  living 
yet.”  “  No,”  said  he,  “  I  am  in  the  land  of  the  dying 
yet,  but  I  am  going  to  the  land  of  the  living ;  they  live 
there  and  never  die.”  This  is  the  land  of  sin  and 
death  and  tears,  but  up  yonder  they  never  die.  It  is 
perpetual  life;  it  is  unceasing  joy. 

“It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  die,”  was  the  testimony 
of  Hannah  Moore  on  her  death-bed,  though  her  life 
had  been  sown  thick  with  the  rarest  friendships,  and  age 
had  not  so  weakened  her  memory  as  to  cause  her  to 
forget  those  little  hamlets  among  the  cliffs  of  her  na. 
tive  hills,  or  the  mission-schools  she  had  with  such 
perseverance  established,  and  where  she  would  be  sc 
sadly  missed. 

As  James  Montgomery  has  said: 

“  There  is  a  soft,  a  downy  bed; 

*Tis  fair  as  breath  of  even; 

A’couch  for  weary  mortals  spread, 

Where  they  may  rest  the  aching  head- 
And  find  repose — in  heaven ! 


HEAVENi 


u 


“  There  is  an  hour  of  peaceful  restj 
To  mourning  wanderers  given. 

There  is  a  joy  for  souls  distressed^ 

A  balm  for  every  wounded  breast, 

’Tis  found  alone — in  heaven!  ” 

KNOWING  OUR  FRIENDS. 

Many  are  anxious  to  know  if  they  will  recognize  their 
friendo  in  heaven.  In  the  8th  chapter  of  Matthew  and 
the  11th  verse,  we  read:  “And  I  say  unto  you,  that 
many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  west,  and  shall  sit 
down  with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  J acob  in  the  king¬ 
dom  of  heaven.” 

Here  we  find  that  Abraham,  who  lived  so  many  hun¬ 
dreds  of  years  before  Christ,  had  not  lost  his  identity, 
and  Christ  tells  us  that  the  time  is  coming  when  they 
shall  come  from  the  east  and  west  and  shall  sit  down 
with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  These  men  had  not  lost  their  identity;  they  were 
known  as  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob.  And  if  you  will 
turn  to  that  wonderful  scene  that  took  place  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  you  will  find  that  Moses, 
who  had  been  gone  from  the  earth  1,500  years,  was 
there;  Peter,  James  and  John  saw  him  on  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration;  they  saw  him  as  Moses;  he  had 
not  lost  his  name,  Christ  says  of  him  that  overcometh, 
**  I  will  not  blot  your  names  out  of  the  Lamb’s  Book  of 
Life.”  W e  have  names  in  heaven ;  we  are  going  tc 
bear  our  names  there;  we  will  be  known. 

Over  in  the  Psalms  it  says:  “I  shall  be  satisfied 
when  1  awake  in  Thy  likeness.”  That  is  enough 
Want  is  written  on  every,  human  heart  down  here,  but 
^<here  we  shall  be  satisfied.  You  may  hunt  the  world 


ITS  INHABITANTS. 


from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  you  will  not  find  a  man 
or  woman  who  is  satisfied ;  but  in  heaven  we  shall  want 
for  nothing.  In  the  2d  chapter  of  the  1st  Epistle  of 
John,  we  read  these  words  addressed  to  followers  of 
Christ: 

“  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  ap¬ 
pear  what  we  shall  be;  but  we  know  that  when  He  shah,  appear,  we 
■'hall  be  like  Him;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is. 

“  And  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifleth  himself, 
ven  as  He  is  pure.” 

Moreover,  it  seems  highly  probable,  indeed  I  think 
it  is  clearly  taught  by  Scripture,  that  a  great  many 
careless  Christians  will  get  into  heaven.  There  will  be 
a  great  many  who  will  get  in  “by  the  skin  of  their 
teeth,”  or  as  Lot  was  saved  from  Sodom,  “  so  as  by 
fire.”  They  will  barely  get  in,  but  there  will  be  nc 
crown  of  rejoicing.  But  everybody  is  not  going  to  rush 
into  heaven.  There  are  a  great  many  who  will  be 
there.  You  know  we  have  a  class  of  people  who  tell 
us  they  are  going  into  the  kingdom  of  God  whether 
they  are  converted  or  not.  They  tell  us  that  they  are 
on  their  way ;  that  they  are  going  there.  They  tell  ug 
all  are  going  there ;  that  the  good,  the  bad  and  indif- 
ferent  are  all  going  into  the  kingdom,  and  that  they 
will  all  be  there;  that  there  is  no  difference;  and,  in 
other  words — if  I  may  be  allowed  to  use  plain  language 
— they  give  God  the  lie. 

But  they  say,  “We  believe  in  the  mercy  of  Gh>d;” 
so  do  I.  I  believe  in  the  justice  of  God,  too;  and  I 
think  heaven  w^ould  be  a  good  deal  worse  than  this 
oarth  if  unrenewed  men  were  permitted  to  form  pari 
of  it 


36 


HEAVEN: 


"Wny,  if  a  man  should  live  forever  in  this  world  in 
sin,  what  would  become  of  this  world?  It  seems  as  if 
it  would  be  hell  itself.  Let  your  mind  pass  over  the 
history  of  this  country,  and  think  of  some  who  have 
lived  in  it.  Suppose  tliey  should  never  die ;  suppose 
they  should  live  on  and  on  forever  in  sin  and  rebellion ; 
do  you  think  that  God  is  going  to  take  those  men  who 
have  rejected  His  Son,  who  have  spurned  the  offer  of 
His  mercy,  who  have  refused  salvation,  and  have 
trampled  His  law  under  their  feet,  and  have  been  in 
rebellion  against  His  laws  down  here?  Do  you  sup¬ 
pose  God  is  going  to  take  them  right  into  His  King¬ 
dom  and  let  them  live  there  forever  ?  By  no  means. 

NO  DRUNKARDS  IN  HEAVEN. 

“  Be  not  deceived  ^  ^  ^  nor  thieves,  nor  covetous 
nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  in¬ 
herit  the  kingdom  of  God.” 

“  No  drunkard  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.” 
Now  let  those  mothers  who  have  sons  who  are  just  com¬ 
mencing  a  dissipated  life,  wake  up;  and  rest  not  day 
nor  night  until  their  boys  are  converted  by  the  power 
of  God’s  grace,  because  no  drunkard  shall  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Many  of  these  moderate  drinkers 
will  become  drunkards ;  no  man  ever  became  a  drunk¬ 
ard  all  at  once.  How  the  devil  blinds  these  moderate’ 
drinkers !  I  do  not  know  of  any  sin  more  binding  than 
the  sin  of  intemperance ;  the  man  is  bound  hand  and 
foot  before  he  knows  it. 

I  was  reading  some  time  ago  an  account  of  snake- 
worshiping  in  India.  I  thought  it  was  a  horrible 
thing.  I  read  of  a  mother  who  saw  a  snake  come  into 


ITS  INHABITANTS. 


37 


her  home  and  coil  itself  around  her  little  infant  onlv 
six  months  old,  and  she  thought  the  reptile  was  such  a 
sacred  thing  that  she  did  not  dare  to  touch  it ;  and  she 
saw  the  snake  destroy  her  child;  she  heard  the  child’s 
pitiful  cries,  but  dared  not  rescue  it.  My  soul  revolted 
as  I  read  the  narrative.  But  I  do  not  know  but  we 
have  things  right  here  in  America  that  are  just  as  bad 
as  that  serpent  in  India — serpents  that  are  coming  into 
many  a  Christian  home,  and  coiling  around  many  a 
son  and  binding  them  hand  and  foot,  and  the  fathers 
and  mothers  seem  to  be  asleep. 

Oh,  may  the  Spirit  of  God  wake  us  up!  No  drunk¬ 
ard  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God;  nor  rum-seller 
either.  Bear  that  in  mind.  “Woe  unto  him  that  put- 
teth  the  bottle  to  his  neighbor’s  lips.”  I  pity  any  pro¬ 
fessing  Christians  who  rent  their  property  for  drink¬ 
ing  saloons;  I  pity  them  from  the  depths  of  my 
heart.  If  you  ever  expect  to  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God,  give  it  up.  you  can  never  rent  your  property 
to  better  purposes  you  had  better  let  it  stand  empty. 
This  idea  that  all  is  going  well,  and  that  all  are  going 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  whether  they  repent  or  not, 
is  not  taught  anywhere  in  the  Scripture. 

There  will  be  no  extortioners  in  heaven ;  none  of  those 
men  who  are  taking  advantage  of  their  brothers;  of 
those  men  who  have  been  unfortunate ;  whose  families 
are  sick ;  who  have  had  to  mortgage  their  property,  and 
had  snap- judgment  taken  against  them  by  some  man 
who  has  his  hand  at  their  throats,  and  takes  every  cent 
that  he  can  get  That  man  is  an  extortioner.  He 
shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  I  pity  a  man 
who  gets  money  dishonestly.  See  the  trouble  he  has 


88 


HEAVEN*. 


to  keep  it.  It  is  sure  to  be  scattered.  If  you  got  it 
dishonestly  you  cannot  keep  it;  your  children  can’t 
keep  it — they  have  not  the  power.  Y  ou  see  that  all 
over  the  country.  A  man  who  gets  a  dollar  dishon¬ 
estly,  had  better  make  restitution  and  pay  it  back  very 
quickly,  or  it  will  burn  in  his  pocket. 

SOME  WILL  NOT  GET  IN. 

In  the  days  of  Noah  we  read  that  he  sailed  over  the 
deluge.  He  was  the  only  righteous  man,  but  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  theory  of  some  people,  the  rest  of  those  men 
who  were  so  foul  and  so  wicked — too  wicked  to  live — 
God  took  them  and  swept  them  all  into  heaven,  and  left 
the  only  righteous  man  to  go  through  this  trial. 
Drunkards,  and  thieves  and  vagabonds  all  went  to 
heaven,  they  say.  You  might  as  well  go  forward  and 
preach  that  “you  can  swear  as  much  as  you  like,  and 
murder  as  much  as  you  please,  and  it  will  come  out 
right — that  God  will  forgive  you;  God  is  so  merciful.” 

Suppose  the  Governor  of  a  State  should  pardon  ev¬ 
ery  person  that  the  courts  ever  convicted,  and  are  now 
lying  in  its  jails  and  penitentiaries ;  suppose  he  should 
let  them  all  loose  because  he  is  so  merciful  that  he 
could  not  bear  to  have  men  punished ;  I  think  he  would 
not  be  Governor  of  that  State  long.  These  men  who 
are  talking  about  God  being  so  full  of  mercy,  that  He 
is  going  to  spare,  and  take  ail  men  to  heaven,  would 
be  the  very  men  to  say  that  such  a  Governor  as  that 
ought  to  be  impeached — that  he  ought  not  to  be  Gov¬ 
ernor.  Let  us  bear  in  mind  that  the  Scripture  says 
there  is  a  certain  class  of  people  who  “  shall  not  in^ 
heirH  the  hiiigdom  of  Qody  Now,  I  will  srive  vou  th© 


ITS  INHABITANTS. 


88 


ra— — — — — —  1  I  I  — 

Scripture ;  it  is  a  good  deal  better  to  just  give  the  Scrip¬ 
ture  for  these  things,  and  then  if  you  do  not  like  it  you 
can  quarrel  with  Scripture,  and  not  with  me.  Let  no 
man  say  that  I  have  been  saying  who  is  going  to 
heaven  and  who  is  not;  I  will  let  the  Scripture  speak 
for  itself :  “Know  ye  not  that  the  unrighteous  shall 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God?”  I  Cor.  vi,  9. 

But  the  unrighteous — the  adulterers,  the  fornicators 
1  and  thieves — these  men  may  all  inherit  it  if  they  will 
only  turn  away  from  their  sins.  “  Let  the  wicked  for- 
‘  sake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts ;  ” 
but  if  the  unrighteous  man  says:  “  I  will  not  turn  away 
from  sin;  I  will  hold  on  to  sin  and  have  heaven,”  he  is 
deceiving  himself. 

A  man  who  steals  my  pocket-book  loses  a  good  deal 
more  than  I  do.  I  can  afford  to  let  him  have  my  pocket- 
book  a  great  deal  better  than  he  can  afford  to  take  it. 
See  how  much  that  man  who  steals  my  pocket-book 
ioses.  Perhaps  he  may  get  a  few  dollars ;  or  he  may 
steal  my  coat ;  but  he  does  not  get  much.  See  how 
much  he  has  lost.  Take  an  inventory  of  what  that 
man  loses  if  he  loses  heaven.  Think  of  it.  No  thief 
shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  To  any  thief  I 
would  say:  “  Steal  no  more.”  Let  him  ask  God  to  for¬ 
give  him ;  let  him  repent  of  his  sin  and  turn  to  God. 
If  you  get  eternal  life  it  is  worth  more  than  the  whole 
world.  If  you  were  to  steal  the  whole  world,  you 
would  not  get  much,  after  all.  The  whole  world  does 
not  amount  to  much,  if  you  have  not  eternal  life  with 
it,  to  enjoy  yourself  in  the  future. 


BY  ANNA  SHIPTON. 

Who  are  they  whose  songs  are  sounding 
O’er  the  golden  harps  above? 

Hark  I  they  tell  of  grace  abounding, 

And  Jehovah’s  sovereign  love. 

Who  are  they  that  keep  their  station 
Round  the  great  eternal  throne? 

They  from  earthly  tribulation 
To  their  heavenly  rest  are  gone. 

See  their  robes  of  dazzling  whiteness, 
Without  blemish,  spot,  or  stain; 

See  their  crowns  that  grow  in  brightness^ 
Purchased  by  the  Lamb  once  slain. 

Never  neat  shall  beat  upon  them, 

Thirst  nor  hunger  reach  them  there; 

He,  whose  life  from  death  hath  won  then^ 
Bids  them  now  His  glory  share. 

Feeble  hearts  are  nerved  for  duty. 
Faltering  feet  now  firmly  stand. 

Palms  of  heaven’s  unfading  beauty 
Mark  earth’s  once  despised  band. 

*Tis  the  Lamb  of  God  who  leads  them, 
And  they  serve  Him  night  and  day; 

By  the  heavenly  fount  He  feeds  them. 

He  hath  wiped  their  tears  away. 

Sweet  their  theme!  ’Tis  still,  “  SalvatioD 
Unto  Christ,  the  Holy  One  1  ” 

And  their  sighs  of  tribulation 
Change  to  songs  around  the  thrcHlft 


^ea'9eni 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


!  oKfmoxi)'!'  aH’orrje?^ 


^  What!  almost  home?  ”  Yes,  almost  home,”  she  said^ 
And  light  seemed  gleaming  on  her  aged  head. 

“  Jesus  is  very  precious!  ”  Those  who  near 
Her  bedside  stood  were  thrilled  those  words  to  hear. 

**  Toward  His  blest  home  I  turn  my  willing  feet; 

Hinder  me  not;  I  go  my  Lord  to  meet.’ 

Silence  ensued.  She  seemed  to  pass  away, 

Serene  and  quiet  as  that  summer  day. 

^  Speak,”  cried  through  tears  her  daughter,  bending  low,r 
^  One  word,  beloved  mother,  ere  you  go.” 

She  spoke  that  word;  the  last  she  spoke  on  earth. 

In  whispering  tones — ^that  word  of  wondrous  worth. 
“JESUS!  ’  The  sorrowing  listeners  caught  the  sound, 
But  angels  heard  it  with  a  joy  profound. 

Back,  at  its  mighty  power,  the  gates  unfold — 

The  gates  of  pearl  that  guard  the  streets  of  gold. 

The  harpers  with  their  harps  took  up  the  strain, 

And  sang  the  triumph  of  the  Lord  again, 

As  through  the  open  portals  entered  in 
Another  soul  redeemed  from  death  and  sin. 

And  as  from  earth  the  spirit  passed  away, 

To  dwell  forever  in  the  realms  of  day. 

Those  who  were  left  to  mourn  could  almost  hear 
The  strains  of  heavenly  music  strike  the  ear. 

And  to  their  longing  eyes  by  grace  was  given. 

In  such  a  scene,  as  ’twere,  a  glimpse  of  heaven. 

— Unknowk 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


43 


CHAPTEB  III 

ITS  HAPPINESS. 


Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into  tfe€; 
Heart  ot  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that 
4cve  him.  Isaiah  Ixiv,  4  I  Cor.  ii,  9. 

If  there  is  one  word  above  another  that  will  swing 
open  the  eternal  gates,  it  is  the  name  of  J esus.  There 
are  a  great  many  pass-words  and  by-words  down  here, 
but  that  will  be  the  countersign  up  above,  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Open  Sesame  ”  to  heaven.  Any  one  who  tries 
to  climb  up  some  other  way,  is  a  thief  and  a  robber. 
But  when  \ve  get  in,  what  a  joy  above  every  other  joy 
we  can  think  oi,  will  it  be  to  see  Jesus  Himself  all  ths 
time,  and  to  be  with  Him  continually. 

Isaiah  has  given  this  promise  of  God  to  every  one 
who  is  saved  through  faith:  “Thine  eyes  shall  see  the 
King  in  His  beauty;  they  shall  behold  the  land  that  is 
very  far  off.”  Some  of  us  may  not  be  able  to  go 
around  the  world.  We  may  not  be  able  to  see  any  oi 
the  foreign  countries ;  but  every  Christian  by  and  by 
is  going  to  see  a  land  that  is  very  far  off.  This  is  oui 
Promised  Land.  John  Milton  says  of  the  saints  whc 
txa\e  gone  already: 

“  They  walk  with  God 
BQgh  in  salvatiom  and  the  climes  of  bliss.** 


HEAVEN: 


14 

It  is  a  blissful  climate  up  there.  People  down  here 
look  around  a  great  deal  to  find  a  good  climate  where 
they  will  not  be  troubled  by  any  of  their  pains  or  aches, 
but  the  climate  of  heaven  is  so  fine  that  no  pains 
or  aches  can  hold  out  against  it.  There  will  be  no 
room  to  find  fault.  W e  shall  leave  all  our  pains  and  aches 
behind  us,  and  find  an  everlasting  health,  such  as  earth 
can  never  know. 

But  you  know  the  glory  of  Christ  as  reigning  King 
of  heaven  would  be  something  too  much  for  mortal 
eyes  to  endure.  In  1st  Timothy,  vi,  we  read  of  Christ  as : 

“Tbe  blessed  and  only  Potentate,  the  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of 
Lords;  Who  only  hath  immortality,  dwelling  in  the  light  which  no 
JUan  can  approach  into*  Whom  no  man  hath  seen  nor  can  see.” 

As  mortals,  we  cannot  see  that  light.  Our  feeble 
faculties  would  be  dazzled  before  such  a  blaze  of  glory. 

In  Ezekiel  i,  28,  we  read  of  that  prophet  having  s 
faint  glimpse  of  it: 

**  As  the  appearance  of  the  bow  that  is  in  the  cloud  in  the  day  of 
rain,  so  was  the  appearance  of  the  brightness  round  about.  This 
was  the  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  And 
when  1  saw  it,  I  fell  upon  my  face.” 

We  are  amazed  at  ordinary  perfections  now.  None 
of  us  can  look  the  sun  squarely  in  the  face.  But  when 
this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  as 
Paul  says,  the  power  of  the  soul  will  be  stronger. 
We  shall  be  able  to  see  Christ  in  His  glory  then. 
Though  the  moon  be  confounded  and  the  sun  ashamed, 
yet  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  This  is  what  will  make 
heaven  so  happy.  We  all  know  that  great  happiness 
cannot  be  found  on  earth.  Eeason,  revelation,  and  the 
experience  of  six  thousand  years,  all  tell  us  that.  N<? 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


45 


human  creature  has  the  power  to  give  it.  Even  doing 
good  fails  to  give  it  fully,  for,  owing  to  sin  in  the 
world,  even  the  best  have  not  perfect  happiness  here. 
They  have  to  wait  for  heaven;  although  they  may  be 
so  near  it  sometimes  that  they  can  see  heralds  of  its  joy 
and  beauty,  as  Columbus  saw  the  strange  and  beautiful 
birds  hovering  around  his  ships  long  before  he  caught 
sight  of  America. 

All  the  joys  we  are  to  know  in  heaven  will  come  from 
the  presence  of  God.  This  is  the  leading  thought  in 
all  that  the  Scripture  has  to  say  on  the  subject.  What 
life  on  this  earth  is  without  health,  life  in  heaven 
would  be  without  the  presence  of  God.  God’s  pres¬ 
ence  will  be  the  very  light  and  life  of  the  place.  It  is 
said  that  one  translation  of  the  words  describing  the 
presence  of  God  is  “  a  happy  making  sight.”  It  will 
be  a  sight  like  the  return  of  a  long-lost  boy  to  his 
mother,  or  the  first  glimpse  of  your  home  after  you 
have  been  a  long  time  away.  Some  of  you  know  how 
a  little  sunshine  on  a  dark  day,  or  the  face  of  a  kind 
friend  in  trouble,  often  cheers  us  up.  Well,  it  will  be 
something  like  that,  only  a  thousand  times  better.  Our 
preceptions  of  God  will  be  clearer  then,  and  that  will 
make  us  love  Him  all  the  more. 

The  more  we  know  God,  the  more  we  love  Him.  A 
great  many  of  us  would  love  God  more  if  we  only  be¬ 
came  better  acquainted  with  Him.  While  on  earth  it 
gives  Christians  great  pleasure  to  think  of  the  perfec¬ 
tion  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  how  will  it  be  when  we  see 
Him  as  He  is? 


46 


HEAVEN: 


WE  SHALL  BE  LIKE  CHEIST. 

Some  one  once  asked  a  Christian  what  he  expected 
to  do  when  he  got  to  heaven  ?  He  said  he  expected  to 
spend  the  first  thousand  years  looking  at  Jesus  Christ, 
and  after  that  he  would  look  for  Peter,  and  then  for 
James,  and  for  John,  and  all  the  time  he  could  con¬ 
ceive  of  would  be  joyfully  filled  with  looking  upon 
these  great  persons.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  one  look 
at  Jesus  Christ  will  more  than  reward  us  for  all  we 
have  ever  done  for  Him  down  here ;  for  all  the  sacri¬ 
fices  we  can  possibly  make  for  Him,  just  to  see  Him ; 
only  to  see  Him.  But  we  shall  become  like  Him  when 
we  once  have  seen  Him,  because  we  shall  Ixave  His 
Spirit.  Jesus,  the  Savior  of  the  world,  will  be  there, 
and  we  shall  see  Him  face  to  face. 

It  will  not  be  the  pearly  gates;  nor  the  jasper 
walls,  or  the  streets  paved  with  transparent  gold,  that 
will  make  it  heaven  to  us.  These  would  not  satisfy  us. 
If  these  were  all,  we  would  not  want  to  stay  there  for¬ 
ever.  I  heard  of  a  child  whose  mother  was  very  sick; 
and  while  she  lay  very  low,  one  of  the  neighbors  took 
the  child  away  to  stay  with  her  until  the  mother  should 
be  well  again.  But  instead  of  getting  better,  the 
mother  died ;  and  they  thought  they  would  not  take  the 
child  home  until  the  funeral  was  all  over;  and  would 
never  tell  her  about  her  mother  being  dead.  So  a  while 
afterward  they  brought  the  little  girl  home.  Pirst  she 
went  into  the  sitting-room  to  find  her  mother ;  then  she 
went  into  the  parlor,  to  find  her  mother  there ;  and  she 
v  ent  from  one  end  of  the  house  to  the  other,  and  could 
not  find  her.  At  last  she  said,  “  Where  is  my  mamma?  ” 
And  when  they  told  her  her  mamma  was  srone.  the  littie 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


41 


tning  wanted  to  go  back  to  the  neighbor’s  house  again. 
Home  had  lost  its  attraction  to  her  since  her  mother 
was  not  there  any  longer.  No  ;  it  will  not  be  the  jasper 
walls  and  the  pearly  gates  that  will  make  heaven  at¬ 
tractive.  It  is  our  being  with  God.  We  shall  be  in 
the  presence  of  the  Redeemer ;  we  shall  be  forever  with 
the  Lord. 

There  was  a  time  when  I  used  to  think  more  of 
Jesus  Christ  than  I  did  of  the  Father;  Christ  seemed 
to  be  so  much  nearer  to  me  because  He  had  become 
the  Days  Man  between  me  and  God.  In  my  imagina¬ 
tion  I  put  God  away  on  the  throne  as  a  stern  judge, 
but  Christ  had  come  in  as  the  mediator,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  Christ  was  much  nearer  to  me  than  God,  the 
Father.  I  got  over  that  years  ago,  when  God  gave 
me  a  son,  and  for  ten  years  I  had  an  only  son,  and  as  I 
looked  at  the  child  as  he  grew  up,  the  thought  came  to 
me  that  it  took  more  love  for  God  to  give  up  His  Son 
than  it  did  for  His  Son  to  die.  Think  of  the  love  that 
God  had  for  this  world  when  He  gave  Christ  up! 

If  you  will  turn  to  Acts  vii,  55,  you  will  find  that 
when  Stephen  Tvas  being  stoned  he  lifted  up  his  eyes, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  God  rolled  back  tlie  curtain  of  time 
and  allowed  him  to  look  into  the  eternal  city,  and  see 
Christ  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God  AYhen 
Jesus  Christ  went  on  high  He  led  captivity  captive,  and 
took  His  seat,  for  His  work  was  done ;  but  when  Ste¬ 
phen  saw  Him  He  was  standing  up,  and  I  can  imagine 
He  saw  that  martyr  fighting,  as  it  were,  single-handed 
and  alone,  the  first  martyr,  though  many  were  to  come 
after  him.  You  can  hear  the  tramp  of  tlie  millions 
coming  after  him,  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  the  Son 


48 


HEAVEN: 


of  God.  But  Stephen  led  the  van;  he  was  the  first 
martyr,  and  as  he  was  dying  for  the  Lord  J esus  Christ 
he  looked  up;  Christ  was  standing  to  give  him  a 
welcome,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  came  down  to  bear  wit¬ 
ness  that  Christ  was  there.  How  then  can  we  doubt  it  ? 

A  beggar  does  not  enjoy  looking  at  a  palace.  The 
grandeur  of  its  architecture  is  lost  upon  him.  Looking 
upon  a  royal  banquet  does  not  satisfy  the  hunger  of  a 
starving  man.  But  seeing  heaven  is  also  having  a  share 
in  it.  There  would  be  no  joy  there  if  we  did  not  feel 
that  some  of  it  was  ours.  God  unites  the  soul  to  Him¬ 
self.  We  read  in  II  Peter  that  we  are  made  partakers 
of  the  divine  nature.  Now  if  you  put  a  piece  of  iron 
in  the  fire,  it  very  soon  loses  its  dark  color,  and  becomes 
red  and  hot  like  the  fire,  but  it  does  not  lose  its  iron 
nature.  So  the  soul  becomes  bright  with  God’s  bright¬ 
ness,  beautiful  with  God’s  beauty,  pure  with  God’s 
purity,  and  warm  with  the  glow  of  His  perfect  love,  and 
yet  remains  a  human  soul.  We  shall  be  like  Him,  but 
remain  ourselves. 

There  is  a  fable  that  a  kind-hearted  king  was  once 
hunting  in  a  forest,  and  found  a  blind  orphan  boy,  who 
was  living  almost  like  a  beast.  The  king  was  touched 
with  pity,  and  adopted  the  boy  as  his  own,  and  had 
him  taught  all  that  can  be  learned  by  one  who  is  blind. 
When  he  reached  his  twenty-first  year,  the  king,  who 
was  also  a  great  physician,  restored  the  youth  his  sight, 
and  took  him  to  his  palace,  where,  surrounded  by  his 
nobles  and  all  the  majesty  and  magnificence  of  hia 
court,  he  proclaimed  him  one  of  his  sons,  and  com¬ 
manded  all  to  give  him  their  honor  and  love.  The 
once  friendless  orphan  thus  became  a  prince  and  a 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


49 


sharer  in  the  royal  dignity,  and  of  all  the  happiness 
and  glory  to  be  found  in  the  palace  of  a  king.  Who 
can  tell  the  joy  that  oyerwhelmed  the  soul  of  that  young 
man  when  he  first  saw  the  king,  of  whose  beauty  and 
goodness  and  power  he  had  heard  so  much  ?  Who  can 
tell  the  happiness  he  must  have  felt  when  he  saw  his 
own  princely  attire,  and  found  himself  adopted  into  the 
royal  family — honored  and  beloved  by  all  ? 

Now  Christ  is  the  great  and  mighty  King  who  finds 
our  souls  in  the  wilderness  of  this  sinful  world.  He 
finds  us,  as  we  read  in  the  3d  chapter  of  Kevelation, 
“  wi’etched  and  miserable,  and  poor  and  blind  and 
naked.”  We  read  in  the  1st  chapter  of  the  same  book. 
He  “washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  own  blood;”  and 
again,  in  the  61st  chapter  of  Isaiah,  He  has  clothed  us 
with  a  spotless  robe  of  innocence,  “  with  the  garments 
of  salvation;”  He  has  covered  us  “with  a  robe  of 
righteousness  as  a  bridegroom  decketh  himself  with 
ornaments,  and  as  a  bride  adorneth  herself  with 
jewels.” 

The  mission  of  the  Gospel  to  sinners,  as  we  find  it 
in  the  2Gtli  chapter  of  Acts,  was,  “  to  open  their  eyes, 
and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from'  the 
power  of  KSatan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  for¬ 
giveness  of  sins  and  inheritance  among  them  which  are 
sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  Me.”  This  is  what  Christ 
has  done  for  every  Christian.  He  has  adorned  you 
with  the  gift  of  grace,  and  adopted  you  as  His  child, 
and  as  it  says  in  the  3d  chapter  of  I  Corinthians : 

“All  things  are  yours;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  CJephas,  or 
the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come— 
&11  are  yo  xts,  and  ye  are  Christ’s,  and  Christ  is  God’s.” 


50 


HEAVEN: 


He  lias  given  yon  His  own  Word  to  educate  you  for 
heaven ;  He  has  opened  your  eyes  so  that  now  you  see. 
By  His  grace  and  your  own  co-operation  your  soul  is 
being  gradually  developed  into  a  more  perfect  resem¬ 
blance  to  Him. 

Finally,  your  Heavenly  Father  calls  you  home,  ‘ 
where  you  will  see  the  angels  and  saints  clothed  with 
the  beauty  of  Christ  Himself,  standing  around  His 
throne,  and  hearing  the  word  that  will  admit  you  into 
their  society,  “Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  serv¬ 
ant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.”  In  the 
16th  chapter  of  John,  Christ  Himself  says:  “  All  things 
that  the  Father  hath  are  Mine ;  therefore,  said  I,  that 
He  shall  take  of  Mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you.” 
All  will  be  yours.  Ah,  how  poor  and  mean  do  earthly 
pleasures  seem  by  comparison.  How  true  those  lines, 
of  a  Scotch  poet: 

“  The  world  can  never  give 

The  bliss  for  which  we  sigh; 

’Tis  not  the  whole  of  life  to  live, 

Nor  all  of  death  to  die. 

Beyond  this  vale  of  tears 
There  is  a  life  above, 

Unmeasured  by  the  flight  of  years. 

And  all  that  life  is  love.” 

OVEE  THE  EIVEE. 

There  is  joy  in  heaven,  we  are  told,  over  the  conver¬ 
sions  that  take  place  on  earth.  In  Luke  yv,  7,  we 
read:  “  I  say  unto  you  that  likewise  joy  shall  be  in 
heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  more  than  over 
ninety-and-nine  just  persons  which  need  no  repent¬ 
ance.  When  there  is  going  to  be  an  election  for 
President  of  the  United  States,  there  is  tremendous 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


51 


excitement^ — a,  great  commotion.  There  is  probably  not 
a  paper  from  Maine  to  California  that  would  not  have 
something  on  nearly  every  page  about  the  candidate; 
the  whole  country  is  excited ;  but  I  doubt  if  it  would  be 
noticed  in  heaven.  If  Queen  Victoria  should  leave  her 
throne,  there  would  be  great  excitement  throughout  the 
nations  of  the  earth ;  the  whole  world  would  be  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  event;  it  would  be  telegraphed  around  the 
world;  but  it  would  probably  be  overlooked  altogether 
in  heaven.  Yet  if  one  little  boy  or  girl,  one  man  or 
one  woman,  should  repent  of  their  sins,  this  day  and 
hour  that  would  be  noticed  in  heaven.  They  look  at 
things  differently  up  there;  things  that  look  very  large 
to  us,  look  very  small  in  heaven ;  and  things  that  seem 
very  small  to  us  down  here,  may  be  very  great  up  yon¬ 
der.  Think  of  it!  By  an  act  of  our  own,  we  may 
cause  joy  in  heaven.  The  thought  seems  almost  too 
wonderful  to  understand.  To  think  that  the  poorest 
sinner  on  earth,  by  an  act  of  his  own,  can  send  a  thrill 
of  joy  through  the  hosts  of  heaven! 

The  Bible  says:  “There  is  joy  in  the  presence  of 
the  angels,”  not  that  the  angels  rejoice,  but  it  is  “  in 
the  presence  ”  of  the  angels.  I  have  studied  over  that 
a  great  deal,  and  often  wondered  what  it  meant.  “Joy 
in  the  presence  of  the  angels?”  Now,  it  is  speculation; 
I  admit  it  may  be  true,  or  it  may  not ;  but  perhaps  the 
friends  who  have  left  the  shores  of  time — they  who 
have  gone  within  the  fold — may  be  looking  domi  upon 
us ;  and  when  they  see  one  they  prayed  for  while  on 
earth  repenting  and  turning  to  God,  it  sends  a  thrill  of 
joy  to  their  very  hearts.  Even  now,  some  mother  who 
has  gone  up  yonder  may  be  looking  down  uoon  a  sou 


52 


HEAVEN: 


or  daughter,  and  if  that  child  should  say:  “I  will  meet 
that  mother  of  mine;  I  will  repent;  yes,  I  am  going  to 
join  you,  mother,”  the  news,  with  the  speed  of  a 
sunbeam,  reaches  heaven,  and  that  mother  may  then 
rejoice,  as  we  read,  “  In  the  presence  of  the  angels.” 

In  Dublin,  after  one  of  the  meetings,  a  man  walked 
into  the  inquiry  room  with  his  daughter,  his  only  one, 
whose  mother  had  died  some  time  before,  and  he 
prayed:  “  O  God,  let  this  truth  go  deep  into  my  daugh¬ 
ter’s  heart,  and  grant  that  the  prayers  of  her  mother 
may  be  answered  to-day — that  she  may  be  saved.”  As 
they  rose  up  she  put  her  arms  about  his  neck  and  kissed 
him,  and  said:  “I  want  to  meet  my  mother;  I  want  to 
be  a  Christian.”  That  day  she  accepted  Christ.  That 
man  is  now  a  minister  in  Texas.  The  daughter  died 
out  there  a  little  while  ago,  and  is  now  with  her  mother 
in  heaven.  What  a  blessed  and  joyful  meeting  it  must 
have  been!  It  may  be  a  sister,  it  may  be  a  brother, 
who  is  beckoning  you  over — 

“  Over  the  river  they  beckon  to  me, 

Loved  ones  who’ve  crossed  to  the  farther  side; 

The  gleam  of  their  snowy  robes  I  see, 

But  their  voices  are  drowned  in  the  rushing  tide. 

There’s  one  with  ringlets  of  sunny  gold. 

And  eyes,  the  reflection  of  heaven’s  own  blue; 

He  crossed  in  the  twilight  gray  and  cold. 

And  the  pale  mist  hid  him  from  mortal  view. 

We  saw  not  the  angels  who  met  him  there, 

The  gates  of  the  city  we  could  not  see; 

Over  the  river,  over  the  river. 

My  brother  stands  waiting  to  welcome  me.” 

Whoever  you  are,  do  not  delay. 

The  story  is  told  of  a  father  who  had  his  little  daugh¬ 
ter  out  late  in  the  evening.  The  night  was  dark, 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


63 


they  had  passed  through  a  thick  wood  to  the  brink  of 
a  river.  Far  away  on  the  opposite  shore  a  light  twinkled 
here  and  there  in  the  few  scattered  houses,  and  still 
farther  off  blazed  the  bright  lights  of  the  great  city  to 
^Fich  they  were  going.  The  little  child  was  weary 
and  sleepy,  and  the  father  held  her  in  his  arms  while 
he  waited  for  the  ferryman,  who  was  at  the  other  side. 
At  length  they  saw  a  little  light;  nearer  and  nearer 
came  the  sound  of  the  oars,  and  soon  they  were  safe  in 
the  boat. 

“  Father,”  said  the  little  girl. 

“  Well,  my  child?  ” 

“  It’s  very  dark,  and  I  can’t  see  the  shore!  where  are 
we  going?” 

“  The  ferryman  knows  the  way,  little  one;  we  will 
soon  be  over.” 

“  O,  I  wish  we  were  there,  father.” 

Soon  in  her  home  loving  arms  welcomed  her,  and  her 
fears  and  her  tremor  were  gone.  Some  months  pass  by, 
and  this  same  little  child  stands  on  the  brink  of  a  river 
that  is  darker  and  deeper,  more  terrible  still.  It  is  the 
Kiver  of  Death.  The  same  loving  father  stands  near 
her,  distressed  that  his  child  must  cross  this  river  and 
he  not  be  able  to  go  with  her.  For  days  and  for  nights 
he  and  her  mother  have  been  watching  over  her,  leav¬ 
ing  her  bedside  only  long  enough  for  their  meals,  and 
to  pray  for  the  life  of  their  precious  one.  For  hours 
she  has  been  slumbering,  and  it  seems  as  if  her  spirit 
must  pass  away  without  her  waking  again,  but  just  be¬ 
fore  the  morning  watch  she  suddenly  awakes  with  the 
eye  bright,  the  reason  unclouded,  and  every  faculty 
alive.  A  sweet  smile  is  playing  upon  her  face. 


64 


HEAVENi 


“  Father,”  slie  says,  “  I  have  come  again  to  the  rive^ 
side,  and  am  again  waiting  for  the  ferryman  to  com« 
and  take  me  across.” 

“  Does  it  seem  as  dark  and  cold  as  when  you  went 
over  the  other  river,  my  child?” 

“  O  no !  There  is  no  darkness  here.  The  river  is 
covered  with  floating  silver.  The  boat  coming  toward 
me  seems  made  of  solid  light,  and  I  am  not  afraid  of 
the  ferryman.” 

“  Can  you  see  over  the  river,  my  darling  ?  ” 

“  O  yes,  there  is  a  great  and  beautiful  city  there, 
all  filled  with  light;  and  I  hear  music  such  as  the  an¬ 
gels  make!  ” 

“Do  you  see  any  one  on  the  other  side?” 

“Why  yes,  yes,  I  see  the  most  beautiful  form;  and 
He  beckons  me  now  to  come.  Oh,  ferryman,  make 
haste!  I  know  who  it  is!  It  is  Jesus;  my  own  blessed 
Jesus.  I  shall  be  caught  in  His  arms.  I  shall  rest 
on  His  bosom — I  come — I  come.” 

And  thus  she  crossed  over  the  Hiver  of  Death,  made 
like  a  silver  stream  by  the  presence  of  the  blessed 
Bedeemen 

SOMETHING  MORE. 

There  is  hardly  an  unconverted  man  anywhere,  no 
matter  how  high  up  or  how  rich  he  may  be,  but  will 
tell  you,  if  you  get  his  confidence,  that  he  is  not  happy. 
There  is  something  he  wants  that  he  cannot  get,  or 
there  is  something  he  has  that  he  wants  to  get  rid  of.  It 
is  very  doubtful  if  the  Czar  of  all  the  Bussias  is  a 
^®'PPy  man,  and  yet  he  has  about  all  he  can  get.  AL 
though  Queen  Victoria  has  palaces,  and  millions  at  her 


ITS  HAPPINESS, 


55 


command,  and  has  besides  what  most  sovereigns  lack, 
the  love  of  her  subjects,  it  is  a  question  whether  she 
gets  much  pleasure  out  of  her  position.  If  kings  and 
queens  love  the  Jesus  Christ  and  are  octvGd,  then  they 
may  be  happy.  If  they  know  they  will  reach  heaven 
like  the  humblest  of  their  subjects,  then  they  may  rest 
secure.  Paul,  the-  humble  tent-maker,  will  have  a 
higher  seat  in  heaven  than  the  best  and  greatest  sov¬ 
ereign  that  ever  ruled  the  earth.  If  the  Czar  should 
meet  John  Bunyan,  the  poor  tinker,  up  in  heaven,  he 
no  doubt  would  find  him  the  greater  man. 

The  Christian  life  is  the  only  happy  one.  Without 
it  something  is  always  wanting.  When  we  are  young 
we  have  grand  enterprises,  but  w^e  soon  spoil  them  by 
being  too  rash.  We  want  experience.  When  w^e  get 
old  we  have  the  experience,  but  then  all  the  power  to 
carry  out  our  schemes  is  gone.  “  Happy  is  that  people 
whose  God  is  the  Lord.”  The  only  way  to  be  happy  is 
to  be  good.  The  man  who  steals  from  necessity  sins 
because  he  is  afraid  of  being  unhappy,  but  for  the 
moment  he  forgets  all  about  how  unhappy  the  sin  is 
going  to  make  him.  Bad  as  he  is,  man  is  the  best  and 
noblest  thing  on  earth,  and  it  is  easy  to  understand  how 
he  fails  to  find  true  happiness  in  anything  lower  than 
himself.  The  only  object  better  than  ourselves  is  God, 
aud  He  is  all  we  can  ever  be  satisfied  wdth.  Gold,  that 
is  mere  dross  dug  up  out  of  the  earth,  does  not  satisfy 
man.  Neither  do  the  honor  and  praise  of  other  men. 
The  human  soul  wants  something  more  than  that. 
Heaven  is  the  only  place  to  get  it.  No  w’onder  that 
•the  angels  wdio  see  God  all  the  time  are  so  happy. 

The  publicans  v/ent  to  hunt  up  John  the  Baptist  in 


56 


HEAVEi^ : 


the  wilderness,  to  know  what  they  should  do.  Some  of 
the  highest  men  in  the  land  went  to  consult  the  hermit 
to  know  how  to  get  happiness.  “  Whosoever  trusteth 
in  the  Lord,  happy  is  he.”  It  is  because  there  is  no 
real  happiness  down  here,  that  earth  is  not  worth  liv¬ 
ing  for.  It  is  because  it  is  all  above,  that  heaven  is 
worth  dying  for.  In  heaven  there  is  all  life  and  no 
death.  In  hell  there  is  all  death  and  no  life.  Here 
on  earth  there  is  both  living  and  dying,  which  is  be¬ 
tween  the  two.  If  we  are  dead  to  sin  here  we  will  live 
in  heaven,  and  if  we  live  in  sin  here  we  must  expect 
eternal  death  to  follow. 

Do  you  know  that  every  Christian  dies  twice?  He 
first  becomes  spiritually  dead  to  sin — that  is  the  re¬ 
newed  soul.  He  then  begins  to  feel  the  joy  of  heaven. 
The  joys  of  heaven  reach  down  to  earth  as  many  and  as 
sure  as  the  rays  of  the  sun.  Then  comes  physical 
death,  which  makes  way  for  the  physical  heaven.  Of 
course  the  old  sinful  body  has  to  be  changed.  We  can¬ 
not  take  that  into  heaven.  It  will  be  a  glorified  body 
that  we  will  get  at  the  resurrection,  not  a  sinful  body. 
Our  bodies  will  be  transfigured  like  Christ’s. 

There  will  be  no  temptation  in  heaven.  If  there 
were  no  temptation  in  the  world  now,  God  could  not 
prove  us.  He  wants  to  see  if  we  are  loyal.  That  is 
why  He  put  the  forbidden  tree  in  Paradise ;  that  ac: 
counts  for  the  presence  of  the  Canaanite  in  the  land  oi 
Israel,  When  we  plant  a  seed,  after  a  time  it  disap¬ 
pears  and  brings  forth  a  seed  that  looks  much  the  same^ 
but  still  it  is  a  different  seed.  So  our  bodies  and  the 
bodies  of  those  we  know  and  love  will  be  raised  up, 
looking  much  the  same — but  still  not  all  the  sama 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


61 


ChriiSt  took  the  same  body  into  heaven  that  was  crucL 
Bed  on  the  cross,  unless  He  was  transformed  in  the 
cloud  after  the  disciples  lost  sight  of  Him.  Thei  e 
must  have  been  some  change  in  the  appearance  of 
Christ  after  His  resurrection,  for  Mary  Magdalen^, 
who  was  the  first  one  who  saw  Him  did  not  know  Him 
neither  did  the  disciples,  who  walked  and  talked  with 
Him  about  Himself,  and  did  not  recognize  Him  until 
He  began  to  ask  a  blessing  at  supper.  Even  Peter 
did  not  know  Him  when  He  appeared  on  the  sea-shore. 
Thomas  would  not  believe  it  was  Christ  until  he  saw 
the  prints  of  the  nails  and  the  wound  in  His  side.  But 
we  shall  all  know  Him  in  heaven. 

There  are  two  things  that  the  Bible  makes  as  clear 
and  certain  as  eternity.  One  is  that  we  are  going  to 
see  Christ,  and  the  other  that  we  are  going  to  be  like 
Him.  God  will  never  hide  His  face  from  us  there, 
and  Satan  will  never  show  his. 

There  is  not  such  a  great  difference  between  grace 
and  glory  after  all.  Grace  is  the  bud,  and  glory  the 
blossom.  Grace  is  glory  begun,  and  glory  is  grace 
perfected.  It  will  not  come  hard  to  people  who  are 
serving  God  down  here  to  do  it  when  they  go  up  yon¬ 
der.  They  will  change  places,  but  they  will  not 
change  employments. 

HIGHER  UP. 

The  moment  a  person  becomes  heavenly-minded  and 
gets  his  heart  and  affections  set  on  things  above,  then 
life  becomes  beautiful,  the  light  of  heaven  shines 
across  his  pathway,  and  he  does  not  have  to  be  all  the 
time  lashing  and  upbraiding  himself  because  he  is  not 


58 


HEAVEN: 


more  like  Christ.  Some  one  asked  a  Scotchman  if  he 
was  on  the  way  to  heaven,  and  he  said:  “Why  man,  1 
live  there;  I  am  not  on  the  way.”  That  is  just  it 
We  want  to  live  in  heaven;  while  we  are  walking  in 
this  world  it  is  our  privilege  to  have  our  hearts  and 
affections  there.  I  once  heard  Mr.  Morehouse  tell  a 
story  about  a  lady  in  London  who  found  one  of  those 
poor,  bed-ridden  saints,  and  then  she  found  a  wealthy 
woman  who  was  all  the  time  complaining  and  murmur, 
ing  at  her  lot.  Sometimes  I  think  people  whom  God  does 
the  most  for  in  worldly  things  think  the  less  of  Him  and 
care  less  about  Him,  and  are  the  most  unproductive  in 
His  service.  But  this  lady  went  around  as  a  mission¬ 
ary  visiting  the  poor,  and  she  used  to  go  and  visit  this 
poor,  bed-ridden  saint,  and  she  said  if  she  wanted  to 
get  cheered  up  and  her  heart  made  happy  she  would 
go  and  visit  her.  [There  is  a  place  in  Chicago,  and 
has  been  for  years,  where  a  great  many  Christians  have 
always  gone  when  they  want  to  get  their  faith  strength¬ 
ened;  they  go  there  and  visit  one  of  these  saints.  And 
a  friend  told  me  that  she  thought  that  the  Lord  kept 
one  of  those  saints  in  most  of  the  cities  to  entertain 
angels  as  they  passed  over  the  cities  on  errands  of 
mercy,  for  it  seems  that  these  saints  are  often  visited 
by  the  heavenly  host.]  Well,  this  lady  missionary  had 
wanted  to  get  this  wealthy  woman  in  contact  with  this 
saint,  and  she  invited  her  to  go  a  number  of  times; 
and  finally  the  lady  consented  to  go,  and  when  she  got 
to  the  place,  she  went  up  the  first  flight  of  stairs,  and 
it  was  not  very  clean,  and  was  dark. 

“What  a  horrible  place,”  the  iady  said;  ^^why  did! 
you  bring  me  here  ?  ” 


ITS  HAPPINESS. 


59 


Til©  lady  smiled  and  said:  “  It  is  better  higher  np.’^ 

And  then  they  went  up  another  flight,  and  it  didn’t 
^row  any  lighter,  and  she  complained  again,  and  the 
WI7  said,  “It  is  better  higher  up.”  And  then  they 
went  up  another  flight,  and  it  was  no  lighter;  still  the 
missionary  kept  saying,  “  It  is  better  higher  up.”  And 
when  they  got  to  the  fifth  story  they  opened  the  door, 
and  entered  a  beautiful  room,  a  room  that  was  carpeted, 
with  plants  in  the  window,  and  a  little  bird  was  in  a  cage 
singing,  and  there  was  that  saint  just  smiling,  and  the 
fiist  thing  the  complaining  woman  had  to  say  to  her  was; 

“  It  must  be  very  hard  for  you  to  be  here  and  suffer.” 

“  Oh,  that  is  a  very  small  thing;  it  is  not  very  hard,’^ 
she  said,  “  it  is  better  higher  up.” 

And  so  if  things  do  not  go  just  right,  if  they  do  not 
go  to  suit  us  here,  we  can  say,  “  It  is  better  higher  up, 
tt  is  better  further  on,”  and  we  can  lift  up  our  hearts 
i&nd  rejoice  as  we  journey  on  toward  HOME. 

You  know  those  beautiful  lines — 

“  Beyond  the  smiling  and  the  weeping, 

I  shall  be  soon; 

Beyond  the  waking  and  the  sleeping, 

Beyond  the  sowing  and  the  reaping, 

I  shall  be  soon. 

Love,  rest,  and  home! 

Sweet  Home! 

Lord,  tarry  not,  but  coma 

Beyond  the  rising  and  the  s'^tting, 

I  shall  be  soon; 

Beyond  the  calming  and  the  fretting, 

Beyond  remembering  and  forgetting, 

I  shall  be  soon. 

Love,  rest,  and  home! 

Sweet  Hope! 

Lord,  tarry  not,  but  come. 


pirif  ^^oiceA 

BY  ANNA  SHIPTON. 


« 


Nearer  and  nearer,  day  by  day,  the  distant  voices  come ; 

Soft  through  the  pearly  gate  they  swell,  and  seem  to  call  me  homa 
The  lamp  of  life  burns  faint  and  low;  ay,  let  it  fainter  burn; 

For  who  would  weep  the  failing  lamp  when  birds  announce  the  mom? 
I  saw  the  faces  of  my  loved  gleam  through  the  twilight  dim. 

And  softly  on  the  morning  air  arose  the  heaven-born  hymn; 

With  looks  of  love  they  gazed  on  me,  as  none  gaze  on  me  now; 

The  glory  of  the  Infinite  surrounded  every  brow. 

Fair  HHes,  star-hke  in  their  bloom,  and  waving  palms  they  bore. 
And  oh,  the  smiles  of  peace  and  joy  those  heavenly  faces  wore! 
Thou  who  hast  fathomed  death’s  dark  tide,  save  me  from  death’^* 
alarms ; 

Beneath  my  trembhng  soul,  oh,  stretch  Thine  everlasting  arms'^ 

No  second  cross,  no  thorny  crown  can  bruise  Thy  sacred  brow; 
Thou  who  the  wine-press  trod  alone,  o’er  the  dark  waves  bear  ’inEfe;" 
now. 

A  parting  hour,  a  pang  of  pain,  and  then  shall  pass  away 

The  veil  that  shrouds  Thee  where  Thou  reign’st  in  everlasting  day 

No  sin,  no  sigh,  no  withering  fear,  can  wring  the  bosom  there; 

But  basking  in  Thy  smile  I  shall  Thy  sinless  service  share. 

How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long  before  Thou’lt  take  me  by  the  handr 
And  I,  Thy  weakest  child,  at  1;  ',t  amon^  Thy  children  stand? 
Beyond  the  stars  that  steadfast  shino  my  spirit  pines  to  soar, 

To  dwell  within  my  Father’s  house,  and  leave  that  home  no 
O  Lord,  Thou  hast  with  angel  food  my  fainting  spirit  fed; 

If  ’tis  Thy  will  I  hnger  here,  bless  Thou  the  path  I  tread; 

And  though  my  soul  doth  pant  to  pass  within  the  pearly  gate, 

Yet  teach  me  for  Thy  summons.  Lord,  in  patience  still  to  wait. 


Heaven; 

ITS  CERTAINTY. 


4 


fiine  in  ffte  of 


I  shine  in  the  light  of  God; 

His  likeness  stamps  my  brow; 

Through  the  Valley  of  Death  my  feet  have 
And  I  reign  in  glory  now! 

No  breaking  heart  is  here, 

No  keen  and  thrilling  pain, 

No  wasted  cheek  where  the  frequent  tes^ 

Hath  rolled  and  left  its  stauiv 

sis  *  *  *  V  i'  Ti. 

O  friends  of  mortal  years. 

The  trusted  and  the  true, 

Ye  are  watching  stiU  in  the  valley  of  teai^ 

But  I  wait  to  welcome  you. 

Do  I  forget?  O  no! 

For  memory’s  golden  chain 
Shall  bind  my  heart  to  the  hearts  belo*M 
Till  they  meet  to  touch  again. 

Each  link  is  strong  and  bright, 

And  love’s  electric  flame 
Flows  freely  doAvn,  like  a  river  of  light,. 

To  the  world  from  whence  I  came* 

Do  you  mourn  when  another  star 
Shines  out  from  the  glittering  sky? 

Do  you  weep  when  the  raging  voice  of  war 
And  the  storms  of  conflict  die? 

Then  why  should  your  tears  run  down, 

And  your  hearts  be  sorely  riven, 

For  another  gem  in  the  Savior’s  crown. 

And  another  soul  in  heaven? 

—From  an  English  Fbieh$>. 


■V 


ITS  CERTAINTY. 


m 


,  CHAPTEK  lY. 

ITS  CERTAINTY. 


In  My  Father’s  house  are  many  mansions.  ...  .  I  gc 

prepare  a  place  for  you.  John  xiv,  2. 

There  are  some  people  who  depend  so  much  upon 
their  reason  that  they  reason  away  God.  They  say  God 
is  not  a  person  we  can  ever  see.  They  say  God  is  a 
Spirit.  So  He  is,  but  He  is  a  person  too;  and  became 
a  man  and  walked  the  earth  once.  Scripture  tells  us 
very  plainly  that  God  has  a  dwelling-place.  There  is 
no  doubt  whatever  about  that.  A  dwelling-place  indi¬ 
cates  personality.  God’s  dwelling-place  is  in  heaven. 
He  has  a  dwelling-place,  and  we  are  going  to  be  in¬ 
mates  of  it.  Therefore  we  shall  see  Him. 

In  I  Kings,  viii,  30,  we  read: 

“  And  hearken  Thou  to  the  Bupphcation  of  Thy  servant,  and  ot 
Thy  people  Israel,  when  they  shall  pray  toward  this  place;  and  hear 
Thou  in  heaven  Thy  dwelling-place;  and  when  Thou  hearest,  for¬ 
give.” 

This  idea  that  heaven  is  everywhere  and  nowhere  is 
not  according  to  Scripture.  Heaven  is  God’s  habita¬ 
tion,  and  when  Christ  came  on  earth  He  taught  us  to 
pray:  “Our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven.”  This  hab¬ 
itation  is  spoken  of  as  “  the  city  of  eternal  life.” 
Think  of  a  city  without  a  cemetery — they  have  no  dy- 
’ng  there=  If  there  could  be  such  a  city  as  that  found 


m 


BEAVENi 


on  this  earth  what  a  rush  there  would  be  to  it!  How 
men  would  try  to  reach  that  city  I  You  cannot  find  one 
on  the  face  of  this  earth.  A  city  without  tears — God 
wipes  away  all  the  tears  up  yonder.  This  is  a  time  of 
weeping,  but  by-and-by  there  will  be  a  time  when  God 
shall  call  us  where  there  will  be  no  tears.  A  city 
without  pain,  a  city  without  sorrow,  without  sickness, 
without  death.  There  is  no  darkness  there.  “  The 
Lamb  is  the  light  thereof.”  It  needs  no  sun,  it  needs 
no  moon.  The  paradise  of  Eden  was  as  nothing  com¬ 
pared  with  this  one.  The  tempter  came  into  Eden  and 
triumphed,  but  in  that  city  nothing  that  defileth  shall 
ever  enter.  There  will  be  no  tempter  there.  Think 
of  a  place  where  temptation  cannot  come.,  Think  of  a 
place  where  we  shall  be  free  from  sin ;  where  pollution 
cannot  enter,  and  where  the  righteous  shall  reign  for-, 
ever.  Think  of  a  city  that  is  not  built  with  hands, 
where  the  buildings  do  not  grow  old  with  time ;  a  city 
whose  inhabitants  are  numbered  by  no  census,  except 
the  Book  of  Life,  which  is  the  heavenly  directory. 
Think  of  a  city  through  whose  streets  runs  no  tido  of 
business,  where  no  hearses  with  their  nodding  plumes 
creep  slowly  with  their  sad  burdens  to  the  cemetery;  a 
city  without  griefs  or  graves,  without  sins  or  sorrows, 
without  marriages  or  mournings,  without  births  or 
burials;  a  city  which  glories  in  having  Jesus  for  its 
King,  angels  for  its  guards,  and  whose  citizens  are 
saints ! 

We  believe  this  is  just  as  much  a  place  and  just  as 
much  a  city  as  is  New  York,  London  or  Paris.  We 
believe  in  it  a  good  deal  more,  because  earthly  cities 
will  pass  away,  but  this  city  will  remain  forever.  B 


ITS  CERTAINTY, 


m 


has  foundations  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God 
Some  of  the  grandest  cities  the  world  has  ever  known 
have  not  had  foundations  strong  enough  to  last 

TYRE  AND  SIDON. 

Take  for  instance  Tyre  and  Sidon.  They  were  risral 
cities  something  like  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  or 
St  Louis  and  Chicago.  When  the  patriarch  Jacob 
gave  his  sons  his  blessing,  he  spoke  of  Sidon.  In  the 
splitting  up  of  Canaan  among  the  tribes  of  Israel  by 
Joshua,  Tyre  and  Sidon  seem  to  have  fallen  to  the  lot 
of  Asher,  though  the  old  inhabitants  were  never  fully 
driven  out  We  read  in  Mark:  “  Jesus  withdrew  Him¬ 
self  with  His  disciples  to  the  sea,  and  a  great  multitude 
from  Galilee  followed  Him,  and  from  Judea  and  from 
Jerusalem,  and  from  Idumoea  and  from  beyond  Jordan . 
and  they  about  Tyre  and  Sidon,  a  great  multitude 
when  they  heard  what  things  He  did,  came  unto  Himd' 
We  find  in  Acts  xvii,  3,  that  the  Captain  of  the  guards 
who  was  taking  Paul  prisoner  to  appear  before  Caesar 
at  Pome,  when  the  ship  touched  at  Sidon  let  Paul  go 
and  visit  some  of  his  friends  there  to  refresh  himself 
From  this  it  has  been  inferred  that  at  that  time  there 
must  have  been  a  Christian  church  there,  although  the 
people  generally  worshiped  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  who 
was  represented  as  crowned  with  the  crescent  moon. 

Tliere  are  some  persons  now,  you  know,  who  adore 
a  Queen  of  Heaven,  whom  they  picture  with  the  moor 
beneath  her  feet  Even  the  Hebrews,  when  they  saw 

the  moon  walking  in  brightness,”  along  the  clear 
skies  of  Palestine,  impressed  by  its  beauty,  fell  into  the 
same  idolatry.-  Jeremiah  says: 


m 


HEAVEN: 


**  The  children  gather  wood,  and  the  fathers  kindle  the  fire,  and 
the  women  knead  their  dough,  to  make  cakes  to  the  Queen  of 
Heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto  other  gods.’* 

In  answer  to  the  prophet’s  reproof  we  find  them  say. 
ing,  in  the  44th  chapter,  beginning  at  the  16th  verse: 

“As  for  the  word  that  thou  hast  spoken  unto  us  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  we  will  not  hearken  unto  thee,  but  we  will  certainly  do 
whatsoever  thing  goeth  out  of  our  own  mouth,  to  bum  incense 
onto  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto 
her,  as  we  have  done.” 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  a  little  farther  on  we  should 
find  addressed  to  them  this  language : 

“  The  Lord  could  no  longer  bear,  because  of  the  evil  of  your  do.- 
togs,  and  because  of  the  abominations  which  ye  have  committed; 
therefore  is  your  land  a  desolation,  and  an  astonishment,  and  a 
cnrse,  without  an  inhabitant,  as  at  this  day.” 

In  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given 
In  marriage,  and  there  will  be  no  “  Queen  ”  in  heaven. 

Tyre  is  mentioned  by  Joshua  as  “  a  strong  city,’^ 
and  both  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel  speak  of  it.  In  fact,  there 
is  a  great  deal  in  Scripture  about  it.  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Alexander  the  Great,  and  other  kings  have  fought  over 
it,  and  hosts  of  lives  have  been  lost  in  taking  what  is 
now  a  ruin.  Alexander  once  destroyed  it,  but  it  was 
afterward  rebuilt.  We  find  in  the  inspired  Word  of 
God  descriptions  of  what  this  city  once  was,  from  which 
we  can  form  some  idea  of  its  beauty.  The  whole  of 
the  27th  chapter  of  Ezekiel  is  taken  up  vath  Tyrus,  as 
it  was  called  then: 

••  O  thoQ  that  art  dtuate  at  the  entry  of  the  sea  which  art  a  mer. 
chant  of  the  people  for  many  isles,  thus  salth  the  Lord  God;  O 
Xynis,  thou  hast  said,  I  am  of  perfect  beauty.  Thy  borders  are  in 
the  midst  of  the  seas,  thy  builders  have  perfected  thy  beauty. 
They  have  made  all  thy  ship  boards  of  fir  trees  of  Senlr;  th^ 
t)%ve  taken  cedars  from  Lebanon  to  make  masts  for  thee.** 


ITS  CERTAINTY. 


tn 


So  it  goes  on: 

“Fine  linen  with  broidered  work  from  Egypt  was  that  which 
thou  spreadest  forth  to  be  thy  sail;  blue  and  purple  from  the  isles 
of  Blishah  was  that  which  covered  thee.” 

A  little  farther  on  it  says: 

‘‘Thy  riches,  and  thy  fairs,  thy  merchandise,  thy  mariners,  and 
thy  pilots,  thy  calkers,  and  the  occupiers  of  thy  merchandise,  and 
all  thy  men  of  war,  that  are  in  thee,  and  in  all  thy  company  which 
is  in  the  midst  of  thee,  shall  fall  into  the  midst  of  the  seas  in  the 
day  of  thy  ruin.  Thine  heart  was  lifted  up  because  of  thy  beautyi 
thou  hast  corrupted  thy  wisdom  by  reason  of  the  brightness:  I 
will  cast  thee  to  the  ground,  I  will  lay  thee  before  kings,  that  they 
may  behold  thee.” 

The  terrible  prophesies  of  its  downfall  have  all  been 
literally  fulfilled.  We  find  them  in  the  26th  chapterv 
beginning  with  the  3d  verse: 

“Thus  saith  the  Lord  God:  Behold,  I  am  against  thee, O  Tyrus. 
and  will  cause  many  nations  to  come  up  against  thee,  as  the  sea 
causeth  his  waves  to  come  up.  And  they  shall  destroy  the  walls  of 
lyrus,  and  break  dowh  her  towers  j  I  will  also  scrape  her  dust  from 
her,  and  make  her  Hke  the  top  of  a  rock.  It  shall  be  a  place  fox 
the  spreading  of  nests  in  the  midst  of  the  sea;  for  I  have  spoken  it^. 
saith  the  Lord  God;  and  it  shall  become  a  spoil  to  the  nations  ” 

Travelers  now  describe  the  site  of  Tyre  as  “  a  heap 
of  ruins,  broken  arches  and  vaults,  tottering  walls  and 
towers,  with  a  few  starving  wretches  housed  amid  tha 
-fubbish.’’  A  large  part  of  it  is  under  water,  a  portion 
of  the  ruins  a  place  to  spread  nests  upon,  and  the  rest 
has  become  indeed  “  like  the  top  of  a  rock.” 

Thus  passes  away  the  glory  of  the  world.  This  Book 
tells  us  of  the  glory  of  a  city  that  we  no  longer  see, 
but  which  has  been.  It  tells  us  also  of  the  glory  of  a 
greater  City  that  w'e  have  not  seen,  but  shall  see  if  wa 
but  follow  in  the  way 


HEAVEN: 


**  O  happy  harbor  of  God’s  saints! 

O  sweet  and  pleasant  soil! 

In  thee  no  sorrow  can  be  foiindj 
Nor  grief,  nor  care,  nor  toil. 

Thy  gardens  and  thy  goodly  walks 
Continually  are  green, 

Where  grow  such  sweet  and  pleasant  floweia 
As  nowhere  else  are  seen. 

No  candle  needs,  no  moon  to  shine, 

No  glittering  star  to  light, 

For  Christ,  the  King  of  Righteousness, 

Forever  shineth  bright.” 

OUE  NAMES  EECORDED  THERE, 

; 

We  are  told  that  one  time  just  before  sunrise,  two 
men  got  into  a  dispute  about  what  part  of  the  heavens 
the  sun  would  first  appear  in.  They  became  so  excited 
over  it  that  they  began  to  fight,  and  beat  each  other 
over  the  head  so  badly  that  when  the  sun  arose  neither 
of  them  could  see  it.  So  there  are  persons  who  go  on 
disputing  about  heaven  until  they  dispute  themselves 
out  of  it,  and  more  who  dispute  over  hell  until  they 
dispute  themselves  into  it. 

The  Hebrews  in  their  writings  tell  us  of  three  dis¬ 
tinct  heavens.  The  air— the  atmosphere  about  the  earth 
—is  one  heaven ;  the  firmament  where  the  stars  are  is 
another,  and  above  that  is  the  heaven  of  heavens,  where 
God’s  throne  is,  and  the  mansions  of  the  Lord  are— 
those  mansions  of  light  and  peace  which  are  the  abode 
of  the  blessed,  the  homes  of  the  Kedeemer  and  the 
ipedeemed 

This  is  the  heaven  where  Christ  is.  This  is  the  place 
we  read  of  in  Deuteronomy:  “  Behold  the  heaven  and 
the  heaven  of  heavens  is  the  Lord  thy  God’s,  the  earth 
also  with  all  that  therein  is*” 


ri'S  CERTAINTY, 


t)9 

In  II  Corinthians,  Paul,  speaking  of  himself,  says: 

“  I  knew  a  man  in  Christ  above  fourteen  years  ago,  (whether  in 
the  body,  I  cannot  tell;  or  whether  out  of  the  body,  I  cannot  tell, 
God  knoweth;)  such  an  one  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven.” 

Some  people  have  wondered  what  the  third  heaven 
means.  That  is  where  God  dwells,  and  where  the 
storms  do  not  come.  There  sits  the  incorruptible  Judge. 
Paul,  when  he  was  caught  up  there,  heard  things  that  it 
was  not  lawful  for  him  to  utter,  and  he  saw  things  that 
he  could  not  speak  of  down  here.  The  higher  up  we 
get  in  spiritual  matters,  the  nearer  we  seem  to  heaven. 
There  our  wishes  are  fulfilled  at  last.  We  may  cry  out 
like  the  psalmist: 

‘‘  One  thing  have  1  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after;  that 
I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all.  the  days  of  my  life  to  be¬ 
hold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  to  inquire  in  His  temple. 

We  are  assured  by  Christ  Himself  that  our  names 
will  be  written  in  heaven  if  we  are  only  His.  In  the 
10th  chapter  of  Luke  and  the  20th  verse  it  reads:  “Not¬ 
withstanding  in  this  rejoice  not,  that  the  spirits  are 
subject  unto  you:  but  rather  rejoice,  because  your 
names  are  written  in  heaven.”  A  little  while  before 
these  words  were  uttered  by  the  Savior,  calling  to¬ 
gether  seventy  of  His  disciples,  sent  them  forth  in 
couples  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the  cities  of  Galilee 
and  Judea.  There  are  people  nowadays  who  have  no 
faith  in  revivals.  Yet  the  greatest  revival  the  world 
ever  saw  was  during  the  five  or  six  years  that  John  the 
Baptist  and  Jesus  were  preaching,  followed  by  the 
preaching  of  the  apostles  and  disciples  after  Christ  left 
the  earth.  For  years  the  country  was  stirred  from  one 
to  the  other*  There  were  probably  men  then  whc 


HEAVEN: 


stood  out  against  the  revival.  They  might  have  called  it 
“  spasmodic,”  and  refused  to  believe  in  it.  Perhaps 
they  said,  “It  is  a  nine  days’  wonder  and  will  pass 
away  in  a  little  while,  and  there  will  be  nothing  left  of 
it.”  No  doubt  men  talked  in  those  days  just  as  they 
talk  now.  All  the  way  down  from  the  time  of  Christ 
and  His  apostles  there  have  been  men  who  have  op¬ 
posed  the  work  of  God,  and  some  of  them  professing 
to  be  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  all  because  it 
has  not  been  done  in  their  way.  When  the  Spirit  of 
God  comes.  He  works  in  His  own  way.  We  must  learn 
the  lesson  that  we  are  not  to  mark  out  any  channels  for 
Him  to  work  in,  for  He  will  work  in  His  own  way  when 
He  comes. 

These  disciples  came  back  after  their  work.  The 
Spirit  had  worked  with  them,  and  the  devils  were  sub¬ 
ject  to  them,  and  they  had  power  over  disease,  and  they 
had  power  over  the  Enemy,  and  they  were  filled  with 
success.  They  were  probably  having  a  sort  of  jubilee 
meeting,  and  Christ  came  in  and  said:  “Rejoice  not 
that  the  spirits  are  subject  unto  you ;  but  rather  rejoice 
because  your  names  are  written  in  heaven.”  This 
brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  doctrine  of 

ASSURANCE. 

I  find  a  great  many  people  up  and  down  Christendom 
who  do  not  accept  this  doctrine.  They  believe  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  know  in  this  life  whether  we  are 
saved  or  not.  If  this  be  true,  how  are  we  going  to  get 
over  what  Christ  has  said  as  we  find  it  here  recorded? 
if  my  name  is  written  in  heaven,  how  can  I  rejoice  over 
it  unless  I  know  it?  These  men  were  to  rejoice  that 


ITS  CERTAINTY. 


n 


their  names  were  already  there,  and  the  name  of  each 
one  who  is  a  child  of  God  his  name  is  there,  sent  on 
for  registry  before. 

A  party  of  Americans  a  few  years  ago,  on  their  way 
from  London  to  Liverpool,  decided  that  they  would 
stop  at  the  Northwestern  Hotel,  but  when  they  arrived 
they  found  the  place  had  been  full  for  several  days. 
Greatly  disappointed,  they  took  up  their  baggage  and 
were  about  starting  off,  when  they  noticed  a  lady  of 
the  party  preparing  to  remain. 

“  Are  you  not  going,  too  ?  ”  they  asked. 

“  Oh  no,”  she  said,  “  I  have  good  rooms  all  ready.” 

“  Why,  how  does  that  happen?” 

“  Oh,”  she  said,  “  I  telegraphed  on  ahead,  a  few  days 
ago.” 

Now  that  is  what  the  children  of  God  are  doing; 
they  are  sending  their  names  on  ahead;  they  are  secur¬ 
ing  places  in  the  mansions  of  Christ  in  time.  If  we 
are  truly  children  of  God  our  names  have  gone  on  be¬ 
fore,  and  there  will  be  places  awaiting  us  at  the  end  of 
the  journey.  You  know  we  are  only  travelers  down 
here.  We  are  away  from  home.  When  the  war  was 
going  on,  the  soldiers  on  the  battle-field,  the  Southern 
soldiers  and  the  Northern  soldiers,  wanted  nothing  bet¬ 
ter  to  live  in  than  tents.  They  longed  for  the  war  to 
^lose  that  they  might  go  home.  They  cared  nothing 
to  have  palaces  and  mansions  on  the  battle-field.  W ell, 
there  is  a  terrible  battle  going  on  now,  and  by-and-by 
when  the  war  is  over,  God  will  call  us  home.  The  tents 
are  good  enough  for  us  while  journeying  through  this 
world.  It  is  only  a  night,  and  then  the  eternal  day 
will  dawn. 


12 


HEAVENi 


THE  BOOK  OF  LIFE. 

Two  ladies  met  on  a  train  not  long  ago,  one  of  them 
going  to  Cairo  and  the  other  to  New  Orleans.  Before 
they  reached  Cairo  they  had  formed  a  strong  attach¬ 
ment  for  each  other,  and  the  Cairo  lady  said  to  the  lady 
who  was  going  to  New  Orleans: 

“  I  wish  you  would  stay  for  a  few  days  in  Cairo ;  I 
Would  like  to  entertain  you.” 

“  Well,”  said  the  other,  “  I  would  like  to  very  much, 
but  I  have  packed  up  all  my  things  and  sent  them  ahead, 
and  I  haven’t  anything  except  what  I  have  on,  but 
they  are  good  enough  to  travel  in.” 

I  learned  a  lesson  there.  I  said,  “  Almost  anything  is 
good  enough  to  travel  in,  and  it  is  a  great  deal  better 
to  have  our  joys  and  comforts  ready  for  us  in  heaven, 
waiting  until  we  get  there,  than  to  wear  them  out  n 
our  toilsome,  trying,  earthly  journey.” 

Heaven  is  the  place  of  victory  and  triumph.  This 
IS  the  battle-field;  there  is  the  triumphal  procession. 
This  is  the  land  of  the  sword  and  the  spear;  that  is 
the  land  of  the  wreath  and  the  crown.  Oh,  what  a 
thrill  of  joy  will  shoot  through  the  hearts  of  all  the 
blessed  when  their  conquests  will  be  made  complete  in 
heaven;  when  death  itself,  the  last  of  foes,  shall  be 
slain,  and  Satan  dragged  as  captive  at  the  chariot 
wheels  of  Christ!  Men  may  oppose  as  much  as  they 
will  this  doctrine  of  Assurance,  nevertheless  it  is  clearly 
taught  in  Scripture. 

THE  OPENING  OF  THE  BOOKS. 

A  great  many  laugh  at  the  idea  of  there  being  books 
in  heaven;  but  in  the  12th  chapter  of  the  prophecy 
of  Daniel,  and  the  Ist  verse,  we  find » 


ITS  CERTAINTY, 


73 

**  And  at  that  tim©  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince  which 
etandeth  for  the  children  of  thy  people;  and  there  shall  be  a  tim©  of 
trouble,  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation,  even  to  that 
same  time;  and  at  that  tim©  the  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one 
Uiat  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book.” 

There  is  a  terrible  time  coming  upo^  the  earth ;  darkej 
days  than  we  have  ever  seen,  and  they  whose  names 
are  witten  in  the  Book  of  Life  shall  be  delivered  Ther 
again,  in  Philippians  iv,  3,  we  read: 

“  And  I  entreat  thee,  also,  true  yoke-fellow,  help  those  womet 
w'hich  labored  with  me  in  the  Gospel,  with  Clement  also,  and  witb 
other  of  my  fellow-laborers,  whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of  Life." 

Paul,  writing  to  the  Christians  at  Philippi,  where  he 
had  so  much  opposition,  and  where  he  was  cast  into 
jail,  says  in  effect:  Just  take  my  regards  to  the  good 
brethren  and  sisters  who  worked  with  me,  and  whose 
names  are  written  in  the  Book  of  Life.  This  shows 
that  they  taught  the  doctrine  of  Assurance  in  the  verj 
earliest  days  of  Christianity.  Why  should  we  not  teach 
it  and  believe  it  now? 

I  am  told  by  travelers  in  China,  that  the  Chinese 
have  in  their  courts  two  great  books.  When  a  man  is 
tried  and  found  innocent,  they  write  his  name  do^vn  it 
the  book  of  life.  If  he  is  found  guilty,  they  v/rite  his 
name  down  in  the  book  of  death.  I  believe  firmly  that 
every  man  3)r  woman  has  his  or  her  name  in  the  Booh 
of  Death  or  the  Book  of  Life.  Your  name  cannot  be 
in  both  books  at  the  same  time.  You  cannot  be  ic 
death  and  in  life  at  the  same  time,  and  it  is  your  own 
prmlege  to  know  which  it  is. 

In  Bevelation  xiii,  S,  we  read: 

“  And  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall  worship  him  [that  is, 
the  Anti-Christ]  whose  names  are  not  written  in  the  Book  of  lAft 
af  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.” 


74 


HEAVEN! 

— — -  ^  _  XI  - 

And  again,  chapter  xx,  12: 

**  And  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God;  and  the 
hook  was  opened;  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  Book 
(rf  Life;  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were 
written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works.” 

Again,  chapter  xxii,  27 : 

“  And  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  [the  Holy  City]  any- 
ihing  that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomination,  or 
maketh  a  lie;  but  they  which  are  written  in  the  Lamb’s  Book  of 

Life.” 

There  can  be  no  true  peace,  there  can  be  no  true 
hope,  there  can  be  no  true  comfort,  where  there  is  un« 
certainty.  I  am  not  fit  for  God’s  service,  I  cannot  go 
out  and  work  for  God,  if  I  am  in  doubt  about  my  own 
salvation. 

NO  BOOM  FOR  DOUBT. 

A  mother  has  a  sick  child.  The  child  is  just  hang¬ 
ing  between  life  and  death.  There  is  no  rest  for  that 
mother.  You  have  some  friend  on  a  train  that  is 
wrecked,  and  the  news  comes  that  twenty  have  been 
killed  and  wounded,  and  their  names  are  not  given; 
you  are  in  terrible  uncertainty,  and  there  is  no  rest  or 
peace  until  you  know  the  facts.  The  reason  why  there 
are  so  many  in  the  churches  who  will  not  go  out  and 
help  others,  is  that  they  are  not  sure  they  have  been 
saved  themselves.  If  I  thought  I  was  dying  myself, 
I  would  be  in  a  poor  condition  to  save  anyone  elsa 
Before  I  can  pull  anyone  else  out  of  the  water,  I  must 
have  a  firm  footing  on  shore  myself.  We  can  have 
this  complete  Assurance  if  we  will.  It  does  not  do  to 
feel  we  are  all  right,  but  we  must  know  it.  We  must 
read  our  titles  clear  to  mansions  in  the  skies;  the 


ITS  CERTAINTY. 


Apostle  John  says:  “Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of 
God.”  He  does  not  say  we  are  going  to  be. 

People,  when  asked  if  they  are  Christians,  give  some 
of  the  strangest  answers  you  ever  heard.  Some  will 
say,  if  you  ask  them:  “  Well — well — ^well,  I — I  hope  I 
am.”  Suppose  a  man  should  ask  me  if  I  am  an  Amer¬ 
ican.  Would  I  say,  “Well  I — well  I — I  hope  I  am?” 
I  know  that  I  was  born  in  this  country,  and  I  know  I 
was  born  in  the  Spirit  of  God  more  than  twenty  years 
ago.  All  the  infidels  in  the  world  could  not  convince 
me  that  I  have  not  a  different  spirit  than  I  had  before 
1  became  a  Christian.  “  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh 
is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit,”  and 
a  man  can  soon  tell  whether  he  is  born  of  the  Spirit  by 
the  change  in  his  life.  The  Spirit  of  Christ  is  a  spirit 
of  love,  joy,  peace,  humility  and  meekness,  and  we  can 
soon  find  out  whether  we  have  been  born  of  that  spirit 
or  not;  we  are  not  to  be  left  in  uncertainty.  Job  lived 
back  there  in  the  dark  ages,  but  he  knew.  The  dark 
billows  came  rolling  and  surging  up  against  him,  but 
iu  the  midst  of  the  storm  you  can  hear  his  voice  say¬ 
ing;  “  I  know  that  my  Bedeemer  liveth.”  He  had 
something  better  than  a  hope. 

A  man  may  have  his  name  written  in  the  highest 
chronicles  down  here,  but  the  record  may  be  lost;  he 
may  have  it  carved  in  marble,  and  still  it  may  perish; 
some  charitable  institution  may  bear  his  name,  and  yet 
he  may  be  soon  forgotten;  but  his  name  will  never  be 
erased  from  the  scrolls  that  are  kept  above.  Seeking 
to  perpetuate  one’s  name  on  earth  is  like  writing  on  the 
sand  by  the  sea-shore ;  to  be  perpetual  it  must  be  vTih^ 
on  the  eternal  monuments.  It  has  been  said  that 


76 


EEAVENt 


Ihe  way  to  see  our  names  as  they  stand  written  in  the 
Book  of  Life,  is  by  reading  the  work  of  sanctification 
in,  our  own  hearts.  It  needs  no  miraculous  voice  from 
heaven,  no  extraordinary  signs,  no  unusual  feeling.  We 
need  only  find  our  hearts  desiring  Christ  and  hating 
sin ;  our  minds  obedient  to  the  divine  commands. 

We  may  be  sure  that  belonging  to  some  church  is  not 
going  to  save  us,  although  every  saved  man  ought  to  be 
sonnected  with  one.  When  Daniel  died  in  Babylon,  no 
one  had  to  hunt  up  any  old  church  record  to  find  out  if 
he  was  all  righi  When  Paul  was  beheaded  by  Nero, 
ao  one  had  to  look  over  the  register.  On  the  other 
hand,  no  one  thinks  Pontius  Pilate  was  a  saint  because 
his  name  is  in  the  creed. 

They  lived  so  that  the  world  knew  what  they  were. 
Paul  says?  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep 
what  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against  that  day.” 
There  is  Assurance.  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  Christ?”  he  says;  “neither  life,  nor  death,  not 
angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  pres, 
ent,  nor  things  to  come.”  He  just  challenges  them  aH 
hut  they  could  not  separate  him  from  the  love  that  wa| 
In  Christ. 

It  is  dishonoring  to  God  to  go  on  hoping  and  only 
hoping  that  w^  “  are  going  ”  to  be  saved, 

FALSE  PEOFESSOBS. 

Yet  there  are  some  who  ought  not  to  have  assurance, 
ft  would  be  an  unfortunate  thing  for  any  unconverted 
church  member  to  have  assurance.  There  are  some 
who  profess  great  assurance  who  ought  not  to  have  it 
—those  whose  lives  do  not  'correspond.  This  class  is 


JTS  CERTAINTY, 


11 


fepresented  by  the  man  at  the  wedding  feast  who  did 
not  have  on  a  wedding  garment. 

They  are  like  some  lilies — fair  to  see  but  foul  of 
smell.  They  are  dry  shells  with  no  kernel  inside. 
The  crusaders  of  old  used  to  wear  a  painted  cross  upon 
their  shoulders.  So  there  are  a  good  many  nowadays 
who  take  up  crosses  that  sit  just  as  lightly — mere 
things  of  ornament— passports  to  respectability,  cheap 
make-believes,  for  a  struggle  that  has  never  been  made, 
and  a  crown  that  has  never  been  striven  for. 

You  may  very  often  see  dead  fish  floating  with  the 
stream,  but  you  never  saw  a  dead  fish  swimming  against 
it.  Well,  that  is  your  false  believer;  that  is  the  hyp¬ 
ocrite.  Profession  is  just  floating  down  the  stream, 
but  co?zfession  is  swimming  against  it,  no  matter  how 
strong  the  tide.  The  sanctified  man  and  the  unsancti¬ 
fied  one  look  at  heaven  very  differently.  The  unsanc¬ 
tified  man  simply  chooses  heaven  in  preference  to  hell. 
He  thinks  that  if  he  must  go  to  either  one  he  would 
rather  try  heaven.  It  is  like  a  man  with  a  farm  who 
has  a  place  offered  him  in  another  country,  where  there 
Is  said  to  be  a  gold  mine,  He  hates  to  give  up  all  he 
has  and  take  any  risk.  But  if  he  is  going  to  be  ban¬ 
ished,  and  must  leave,  and  has  his  choice  of  living  in  a 
wilderness  or  digging  in  a  coal  pit,  or  else  take  the 
gold  mine,  then  there  is  no  hesitation.  The  unregen¬ 
erate  man  likes  heaven  better  than  hell,  but  he  likes 
this  world  the  best  of  all.  When  death  stares  him  in 
the  face,  then  he  thinks  he  would  like  to  get  to  heaven. 
The  true  believer  prizes  heaven  above  everything  else, 
and  is  always  willing  to  give  up  the  world.  Everybody 
wants  to  enjoy  heaven  after  they  die,  but  they  don’t 


78 


HEAVEN: 


want  to  be  heavenly-minded  while  they  live.  To  the 
Christian  it  is  a  sure  promise,  with  no  room  for  doubt, 
and  there  is  no  reason  for  hesitation. 

The  heir  to  some  great  estate,  while  a  child,  thinks 
more  of  a  dollar  in  his  pocket  than  all  his  inheritanca 
So  even  some  professing  Christians  sometimes  are  more 
elated  by  a  passing  pleasure  than  they  are  by  their 
title  to  eternal  glory.  In  a  little  while  we  will  be  thera 
How  glorious  is  the  thought!  Everything  is  prepared 
That  is  what  Christ  went  up  to  heaven  for.  In  a  Httfe 
while  we  will  be  gone.  We  are — 

“Only  waiting  till  the  shadows 
Are  a  little  longer  grown, 

Only  waiting  till  the  glimmer 
Of  the  day’s  last  beam  has  flownj 
Then  from  out  the  gathered  darkneeSi, 

Holy,  deathless  stars  shall  rise, 

By  whose  light  our  souls  shall  gladly 
Tread  their  pathway  to  tl^ 


J^ea'sen: 


ITS  KICHEa 


^erux«)aPerTj,  ^ome. 


Jerusalem,  my  Home, 

Where  shines  the  royal  throne; 

^"^ach  king  casts  down  his  golden  crown 
Before  the  Lamb  thereon. 

Thence  flows  the  crystal  river, 

And  flowing  on  forever. 

With  leaves  and  fruits  on  either  hand, 
The  Tree  of  Life  shall  stand. 

In  blood- washed  robes,  all  white  and  fair, 
The  Lamb  shall  lead  His  chosen  there, 
While  clou  ds  of  incense  fill  the  air— 
Jerusalem,  my  Home! 

Jerusalem,  my  Home! 

Where  saints  in  glory  reign, 

Thy  haven  safe,  O  when  shall  I, 

Poor,  storm-tossed  pilgrim,  gain? 

At  distance  dark  and  dreary. 

With  sin  and  sorrow  weary, 

Por  thee  I  toil,  for  thee  I  pray, 

For  thee  I  long  alway. 

And  lo,  mine  eyes  shall  see  thee,  too; 

Oh,  rend  in  twain,  thou  veil  of  blue, 

And  let  the  Golden  City  through — 
Jerusalem,  my  Home! 


— Hopkins. 


ITS  RICHES, 


^5} 


OHAFrEB  V, 

ITS  RICHES. 


up  ios  jonrselves  treasures  in  heaven  j  for  where  your  treae- 
ire  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also.  Matt,  vi,  20. 

No  man  thinks  himself  rich  until  he  has  all  he  wants. 
Very  few  people  are  satisfied  with  earthly  riches.  If 
they  want  any  thing  at  all  that  they  cannot  get,  that  is 
a  kind  of  poverty.  Sometimes  the  richer  the  man  the 
greater  the  poverty.  Somebody  has  said  that  getting 
riches  brings  care ;  keeping  them  brings  trouble ;  abus¬ 
ing  them  brings  guilt;  and  losing  them  brings  sorrow. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  make  so  much  of  riches  as  we 
do.  But  there  are  some  riches  that  we  cannot  praise 
too  much?  that  never  pass  away.  They  are  the  treas¬ 
ures  laid  up  in  Heaven  for  those  who  truly  belong  to 
God. 

No  matter  how  rich  or  elevated  we  may  be  here, 
there  is  always  something  that  we  want.  The  greatest 
chance  the  ricli  have  over  the  poor  is  the  one  they  en- 
|oy  the  least— that  of  making  themselves  happy. 
Worldly  riches  never  make  any  one  truly  happy.  We 
all  know,  too,  that  they  often  take  wings  and  fiy  away. 
It  is  said  of  Midas  that  whatever  he  touched  turned  into 
gold,  but  with  his  long  ears  he  was  not  much  the 
better  for  it  There  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  some 


82 


HEAVENS 


•-  ct 


of  these  old  fables.  Money,  like  time,  ought  not  to  be 
wasted,  but  I  pity  that  man  who  has  more  of  either 
than  he  knows  how  to  use.  There  is  no  truer  saying 
than  that  man  by  doing  good  with  his  money,  stamps, 
as  it  were,  the  image  of  God  upon  it,  and  makes  it  pass 
current  for  the  merchandise  of  heaven;  but  all  the 
wealth  of  the  universe  would  not  buy  a  man’s  way 
there.  Salvation  must  be  taken  as  a  gift  for  the  ask. 
ing.  There  is  no  man  so  poor  in  this  world  that  he 
may  not  be  a  heavenly  millionaire. 

GOLD  A  BAD  LIFE-PRESEEVEE. 

How  many  are  worshiping  gold  to-day !  Where  war 
has  slain  its  thousands,  gain  has  slain  its  millions.  Its 
history  in  all  ages  has  been  the  history  of  slavery  and 
oppression.  At  this  moment  what  an  empire  it  has. 
The  mine  with  its  drudges,  the  manufactory  with  its 
misery,  the  plantation  with  its  toil,  the  market  and  ex¬ 
change  with  their  haggard  and  care-worn  faces- — these 
are  but  specimens  of  its  menial  servants.  Titles  and 
honors  are  its  rewards,  and  thrones  are  at  its  disposal. 
Among  its  counsellors  are  kings,  and  many  of  the  great 
and  mighty  of  the  earth  are  its  subjects.  This  spirit 
of  gain  tries  even  to  turn  the  globe  itself  into  gold. 

It  is  related  that  Tarpeia,  the  daughter  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  of  the  fortress  situated  on  the  Capitoline  Hill  in 
Eome,  was  captivated  with  the  golden  bracelets  of  the 
Sabine  soldiers,  and  agreed  to  let  them  into  the  fort¬ 
ress  if  they  would  give  her  what  they  wore  upon  theii 
left  arms.  The  contract  was  made ;  the  Sabines  kept 
their  promise.  Tatius,  their  commander,  was  the  first 
to  deliver  his  bracelet  and  shield.  The  coveted 


ITS  RICHES. 


83 


treasures  were  thrown  upon  the  traitress  by  each  of  the 
soldiers,  till  she  sank  beneath  their  weight  and  expired. 
Thus  does  the  weight  of  gold  carry  many  a  man 
down. 

When  the  steamship  “  Central  America”  went  do^m. 
several  hundred  miners  were  on  board,  returning  to 
their  early  homes  and  friends.  They  had  made  their 
fortunes,  and  expected  much  happiness  in  enjoying 
tliem.  In  the  first  of  the  horror  gold  lost  its  attraction 
to  them.  The  miners  took  off  their  treasure-belts  and 
threw  them  aside.  Carpet  bags  full  of  shining  gold 
dust  were  emptied  on  the  floor  of  the  cabin.  One  of 
them  poured  out  one  hundred  thousand  dollars’  worth 
in  the  cabin,  and  bade  any  one  take  it  who  would. 
Greed  was  over-mastered,  and  the  gold  found  no  takers. 
Dear  friends,  it  is  well  enough  to  have  gold,  but  some¬ 
times  it  is  a  bad  life-preserver.  Sometimes  it  is  a 
mighty  weight  that  crushes  us  down  to  hell. 

The  Rev.  John  Newton,  one  day  called  to  visit  a  fam¬ 
ily  that  had  suffered  the  loss  of  all  they  possessed  by 
fire.  He  found  the  pious  mistress,  and  saluted  her 
with : 

“I  give  you  joy,  madam.” 

Surprised,  and  ready  to  be  offended,  she  exclaimed: 

“  What!  Joy  that  all  my  property  is  consumed?” 

“  O  no,”  he  answered,  “  but  joy  that  you  have  so 
much  property  that  fire  cannot  touch.” 

This  allusion  to  her  real  treasures  checked  her  grief 
and  brought  reconciliation.  As  we  read  in  Proverbs 
15,  6:  “In  the  house  of  the  righteous  is  much  treas¬ 
ure;  but  in  the  revenues  of  the  wicked  is  trouble.”  I 
have  never  seen  a  dying  saint  who  was  rich  in  heavenly 


84 


HEAVEN: 


treasures  who  had  any  regret;  I  have  never  heard 
such  a  one  say  he  had  lived  too  much  for  God  and 
heaven. 

GETTING  WATEE-LOGGED. 

A  friend  of  mine  says  he  was  at  the  River  Mersey, 
in  Liverpool,  a  few  years  ago,  and  he  saw  a  vessel  which 
had  to  be  towed  with  a  great  deal  of  care  into  the  har¬ 
bor;  it  was  clear  down  to  the  water’s  edge-  and  he  avoii- 
dered  why  it  did  not  sink.  Pretty  soon  thei’e  camp 
another  vessel,  without  any  help  at  all ;  it  did  not  need 
any  tug  to  tow  it  in,  but  it  steamed  right  up  the  Mer¬ 
sey  past  the  other  vessels ;  and  he  made  inquiry,  and 
he  found  the  vessel  that  had  to  be  towed  in  was  what 
they  call  water-logged — that  is,  it  was  loaded  with  lum¬ 
ber  and  material  of  that  kind;  and  having  sprung  a 
leak  had  partially  sunk,  and  it  was  very  hard  Avork  to 
get  into  the  harbor.  Now,  I  believe  there  are  a  great 
many  professed  Christians,  a  great  many,  perhaps,  who 
are  really  Christians,  who  have  become  water-logged. 
They  haA^e  too  many  earthly  treasures,  and  it  takes  near¬ 
ly  the  whole  church — the  whole  spiritual  power  of  the 
church  to  look  after  these  worldly  Christians,  to  keep 
them  from  going  back  entirely  into  the  world.  Why, 
if  the  whole  church  were,  as  John  Wesley  said,  “  hard 
at  it,  and  ahvays  at  it,”  Avhat  a  power  there  w^ould  be, 
and  how  soon  we  would  reach  the  world  and  the  masses; 
but  we  are  not  reaching  the  Avorld,  because  the  church 
itself  has  become  conformed  to  the  world  and  Avorldly* 
minded,  and  because  so  many  are  wondering  why  they 
do  not  grow  in  grace  while  they  have  more  of  the  earti 
in  their  thoughts  than  God. 


ITS  RICHES. 


85 


Ministers  would  not  have  to  urge  people  to  live  for 
heaven  if  their  treasures  were  up  there;  tliey  could 
not  help  it ;  their  hearts  would  be  there,  and  if  their 
hearts  were  there  their  minds  would  be  up  there,  and 
their  lives  would  tend  toward  heaven.  They  could 
not  help  living  for  heaven  if  their  treasures  were 
there. 

A  little  girl  one  day  said  to  her  mother:  “Mamma, 
my  Sunday-school  teacher  tells  me  that  this  world  is 
only  a  place  in  which  God  lets  us  live  a  while,  that  we 
may  prepare  for  a  better  world.  But,  mother,  I  do  not 
see  anybody  preparing.  I  see  you  prepai’ing  to  go 
into  the  country,  and  Aunt  Eliza  is  preparing  to  come 
here ;  but  I  do  not  see  anyone  preparing  to  go  there ; 
why  don’t  they  try  to  get  ready  ?  ” 

A  certain  gentleman  in  the  South,  before  the.war,  had 
a  pious  slave,  and  when  the  master  died  they  told  him 
he  had  gone  to  heaven. 

The  old  slave  shook  his  head,  “  I’s  ’fi’aid  massa  no 
gone  there,”  he  said. 

“But  why,  Ben?”  he  was  asked. 

“  Cos,  when  Massa  go  North,  or  go  a  journey  to  the 
Springs,  he  talk  about  it  a  long  time,  and  get  ready. 
I  never  hear  him  talk  about  going  to  heaven ;  never  see 
him  get  ready  to  go  there !  ” 

So  there  are  a  good  many  who  do  not  get  ready. 
Christ  teaches  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  to — 

“Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth 
and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break  through  and  steal; 
but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where  neither  moth 
nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not  break  through 
nor  steal,  for  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be 


86 


HEAVEN; 


TREASURES  OF  THE  HEART. 

It  does  not  take  long  to  tell  where  a  man’s  treasure 
is.  In  fifteen  minutes’  conversation  with  most  men  you 
can  tell  whether  their  treasures  are  on  the  earth  or  in 
heaven.  Talk  to  a  patriot  about  the  country,  and  you 
will  see  his  eye  light  up ;  you  will  find  he  has  his  heart 
there.  Talk  to  some  business  men,  and  tell  them  where 
they  can  make  a  thousand  dollars,  and  see  their  inter* 
est;  their  hearts  are  there.  You  talk  to  fashionable 
people  who  are  living  just  for  fashion,  of  its  affairs, 
and  you  will  see  their  eyes  kindle;  they  are  interested 
at  once;  their  hearts  are  there.  Talk  to  a  politician 
about  politics,  and  you  see  how  suddenly  he  becomes 
interested.  But  talk  to  a  child  of  God,  who  is  laying 
up  treasures  in  heaven,  about  heaven  and  about  his 
future  home,  and  see  what  enthusiasm.  “  Where  your 
treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also.” 

Now,  it  is  just  as  much  a  command  for  a  man  to  ‘Gay 
up  treasure  in  heaven  ”  as  it  is  that  he  should  not  steal 
Some  people  think  all  the  commandments  are  in  those 
ten  that  were  given  on  Sinai,  but  when  Jesus  Christ 
was  here.  He  gave  us  many  other  commandments. 
There  is  another  commandment  in  this  Sermon  on  the 
Mount:  “  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  right¬ 
eousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you 
and  here  is  a  command  that  we  are  to  lay  up  treasure 
in  heaven  and  not  on  earth.  The  reason  there  are  so 
many  broken  hearts  in  this  land,  the  reason  there  are  so 
many  disappointed  people,  is  because  they  have  been 
laying  up  their  treasures  down  here. 

The  worthlessness  of  gold,  for  which  so  many  are 
striving,  is  illustrated  by  a  story  that  Dr.  Arnot  used 


ITS  RICHES. 


87 


to  tell.  A  ship  bearing  a  company  of  emigrants  has 
been  driven  from  her  course  and  wrecked  on  a  desert 
island,  far  from  the  reach  of  man.  There  is  no  way 
of  escape;  but  they  have  a  good  stock  of  food.  The 
ocean  surrounds  them,  but  they  have  plenty  of  seeds, 
a  fine  soil,  and  a  genial  sun,  so  there  is  no  danger. 
Before  the  plans  are  laid,  an  exploring  party  discovers 
a  gold  mine.  There  the  whole  party  go  to  dig.  They 
labor  day  after  day  and  month  after  month.  They  get 
great  heaps  of  gold.  But  spring  is  past,  and  not  a 
field  has  been  cleared,  not  a  grain  of  seed  put  into  the 
ground.  The  summer  comes  and  their  wealth  increases ; 
but  their  stock  of  food  grows  small.  In  the  fall  they 
find  that  their  heaps  of  gold  are  worthless.  Famine 
stares  them  in  the  face.  They  rush  to  the  woods,  they 
fell  trees,  dig  up  the  roots,  till  the  ground,  sow  the 
seed.  It  is  too  late!  Winter  has  come  and  their  seed 
rots  in  the  ground.  They  die  of  want  in  the  midst  of 
their  treasures. 

This  earth  is  the  little  isle ;  eternity  the  ocean  round 
it;  on  this  shore  we  have  been  cast.  There  is  a  living 
seed;  but  the  mines  of  gold  attract  us.  We  spend 
spring  and  summer  there ;  winter  overtakes  us  in  our 
toil;  we  are  without  the  Bread  of  Life,  and  we  are  lost. 
Let  us  then  who  are  Christians,  value  all  the  more  the 
home  which  holds  the  treasures  that  no  one  can  take 
away.  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  a  Lutheran  clergyman,  has 
vritten  beautifuPy' 

Who  would  live  alway,  away  from  his  God. 

Away  from  yon  heaven,  that  blissful  abode; 

Where  the  rivers  of  pleasure  flow  o’er  the  bright  plams. 

And  the  harps  of  gold  pour  out  their  glorious  strains; 

X 


HEAVEN^ 


And  the  saints  of  all  ages  in  harmony  meet 
Their  Savior,  and  brethren  transported,  to  greet; 

While  the  anthems  of  rapture  unceasingly  roil, 

And  the  smile  of  the  Lord  is  the  feast  of  the  soul? 

That  heavenly  music,  what  is  it  I  hear? 

The  notes  of  the  harpers  ring  sweet  on  my  ear. 

To  see  soft  unfolding  those  portals  ot  gold — 

The  King,  all  arrayed  in  His  beauty,  behold! 

Oh  give  me,  oh  give  me,  the  wings  of  a  dove. 

Let  me  hasten  my  flight  to  those  mansions  above! 

Ay,  ’tis  now  that  my  soul  on  swift  pinions  would  soar. 

And  in  ecstacy  bid  earth  adieu  evermore.” 

A  BLACK-BOAED  LESSON, 

When  I  was  in  San  Francisco,  I  went  into  a  Sabbath.', 
school  the  first  Sunday  I  was  there.  It  was  a  rainy 
day,  and  there  were  so  few  present  that  the  Superin¬ 
tendent  thought  of  dismissing  them,  but  instead,  he  af¬ 
terward  invited  me  to  speak  to  the  whole  school  as  one 
class.  The  lesson  was  that  passage  from  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount:  “Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
upon  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and 
where  thieves  break  through  and  steal.” 

I  invited  a  young  man  to  the  blackboard,  and  we 
proceeded  to  compare  a  few  things  that  some  people 
have  on  earth,  and  a  few  things  that  other  people  have 
in  heaven. 

“  Now,”  said  I,  “  name  some  earthly  treasure.” 

They  all  shouted  “  Gold.” 

“Well,  that  is  so,”  I  said,  “I  suppose  that  is  your 
greatest  treasure  out  here  in  California.  Now  let  us 
go  on ;  what  is  another  ?  ” 

A  second  boy  shouted,  “  Lands.” 

“Well,”  I  said,  “we  will  put  down  Lands'®’ 


ITS  EICHES. 


89 


“What  else  do  the  people  out  here  in  California 
think  a  good  deal  of  and  have  their  hearts  set  on  ?  ” 

They  said  “Houses.” 

“Put  that  down;  what  else?” 

“Pleasure.” 

“  Put  that  down.’’ 

“  Honor — fame.” 

Put  them  down.” 

“  Business.” 

“Yes,”  I  said;  “a  great  many  people  have  their 
hearts  buried  in  their  business — put  that  down.”  As 
if  a  little  afraid,  one  of  them  said  “dress,”  and  the 
whole  school  smiled. 

“Put  that  down,”  I  said.  “Why,  I  believe  there 
are  some  people  in  the  world  who  think  more  of 
dress  than  any  other  thing.  They  just  live  for 
dress.  I  heard  not  long  ago  from  very  good  author¬ 
ity,  of  a  young  lady  who  was  dying  of  consumption. 
She  had  been  living  in  the  world  and  for  the  world, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  the  world  had  taken  full  possession 
of  her.  She  thought  she  would  die  Thursday  night, 
and  Thursday  she  wanted  them  to  crimp  her  hair,  so 
that  she  would  look  beautiful  in  her  coffin.  But  she 
didn’t  die  Thursday  night.  She  lingered  through  Fri¬ 
day,  and  Friday  she  didn’t  want  them  to  take  her  hair 
down,  but  to  keep  it  up  until  she  passed  away.  And 
the  friends  said  she  looked  very  beautiful  in  the  coffin! 
Just  what  people  wear — the  idea  of  people  having  their 
hearts  set  upon  things  of  that  kind!” 

“And  what  else,  now?”  Welb  they  were  a  litth^ 
ashamed  to  say  it,  but  one  said: 

“  Kum  ” 


90 


HEAVEN: 


•-snz 


“Yes,”  I  said,  “ put  that  down.  There  is  many  © 
man  thinks  more  of  the  rum-bottle  than  he  does  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  He  will  give  up  his  wife,  he  will 
give  up  his  home  and  his  mother,  character  and  repu* 
tation  forever  for  tlie  rum-bottle.  Many  a  man  by  hk 
life  is  crying  out,  ‘  Give  me  rum.,  and  I  will  give  you 
heaven,  and  all  its  glories.  I  will  sell  my  wife  and 
children.  I  will  make  them  beggars  and  paupers.  1 
will  degrade  and  disgrace  them  for  the  rum-bottla 
That  is  my  treasure.’ 

“  ‘  Oh,  thou  rum  bottle !  I  worship  thee,’  is  the  cry 
of  many — they  turn  their  backs  on  heaven  with  all  its 
glories  for  rum.  Some  of  them  thought,  when  that 
little  boy  said  ‘  rum,’  that  he  made  a  mistake,  that  it 
was  not  a  treasure,  but  it  is  a  treasure  to  thousands.” 
Another  one  said: 

“  Fast  horses.” 

Said  I,  “  Put  it  down.  There  is  many  a  man  who 
thinks  a  good  deal  of  fast  horses,  and  he  wants  to  go 
out  and  take  a  fast  horse  and  drive  Sunday,  and  spend 
his  Sabbath  in  this  way.”  And  after  we  finished,  and 
thought  of  everything  we  could,  T  said:  “Suppose  we 
just  take  down  some  of  these  heavenly  treasures. 

“And,”  said  I,  “What  is  there  now  that  the  Lord  wants 
us  to  set  our  hearts  and  affections  on  ?”  And  they  all  said  5 

“Jesus.” 

“  That  is  good;  we  will  put  Him  down  first  at  the 
head  of  the  list.  Now  what  else?  ”  And  they  said: 

“Angels.” 

“  Put  them  down.  We  will  have  their  society  when 
we  go  to  heaven.  That  is  a  treasure  up  there,  really. 
What  else? ” 


ITS  KICHES, 


91 


*"The  friends  who  have  died  in  Christ,  who  have 
fallen  asleep  in  Christ.” 

“  Put  them  down.  Death  has  taken  them  from  us 
now,  but  w'e  will  be  with  them  by  and  by.  What  else  ?  ” 

“  Crowns.” 

“Yes,  we  are  going  to  have  a  crown,  a  crown  of 
glory,  a  crown  of  righteousness,  a  crown  that  fadeth 
not  away.  What  else?” 

“  The  tree  of  life.” 

“  Yes,”  I  said,  “  the  tree  of  life.  We  shall  have  a 
right  to  it.  We  can  go  to  that  tree  and  pluck  its  fruit, 
eat,  and  live  forever.  What  else?” 

“  The  river  of  life.” 

“Yes,  we  shall  walk  upon  the  banks  of  that  clean 
river.” 

“  Harps,”  one  said. 

Another  one  said  “  palms.” 

“Yes,”  I  said,  “put  them  down.  Those  are  treas¬ 
ures  that  we  will  have  there.” 

“  Purity.” 

“Yes,  there  will  be  none  but  the  pure  there.  White 
robes,  without  spot  or  wrinkle  on  our  garments.  A 
great  many  find  many  flaws  in  our  characters  down 
here,  but  by  and  by  Christ  will  present  us  before  the 
Father  without  spot  and  without  wrinkle,  and  we  shall 
stand  there  complete  in  Him,”  I  said.  “  Can  you 
think  of  anything  else?”  And  one  of  them  said: 

“  A  new  song.” 

“  Yes,  we  shall  have  a  new  song.  It  is  the  song  of 
Moses  and  the  Lamb.  I  don’t  know  just  who  wrote  it 
or  how,  but  it  will  be  a  glorious  song.  I  suppose  the 
«finging  we  have  here  on  earth  will  be  nothing 


92 


I^EAVEN: 


compared  with  the  songs  o£  that  upper  world.  Do  you 
know  the  principal  thing  we  are  told  we  are  going  tc 
do  in  heaven  is  singing,  and  that  is  why  men  ought  to 
sing  down  here.  We  ought  to  begin  to  sing  here  so 
that  it  will  not  come  strange  when  we  get  to  heaven.  1 
pity  the  professed  Christian  who  has  not  a  song  in  his 
heart — who  never  ‘feels  like  singing.’  It  seems  te 
me  if  we  are  truly  children  of  God,  we  will  want  to 
sing  about  it.  And  so,  when  we  get  there,  we  cannot 
help  shouting  out  the  loud  hallelujahs  of  heaven.” 

Then  I  said:  “Is  there  anything  else?”  Well,  they 
went  on.  I  cannot  give  you  all,  because  we  had  to  have 
two  columns  put  down  of  the  heavenly  treasures.  We 
stood  there  a  little  while  and  drew  the  contrast  between 
the  earthly  and  the  heavenly  treasures.  We  looked  at 
them  a  little  while,  and  when  we  came  to  put  them  aK 
down  beside  Christ,  the  earthly  treasures  looked  small, 
after  all.  What  would  all  this  world  full  of  gold  be 
compared  with  Jesus  Christ?  You  who  have  Christ, 
would  you  like  to  part  with  Him  for  gold?  Would  you 
like  to  give  Him  up  for  all  the  honor  the  earth  can 
bestow  on  you  for  a  few  months  or  a  few  years  ?  Think 
of  Christ!  Think  of  the  treasures  of  heaven.  And 
then  think  of  these  eartlily  treasures  that  we  have  our 
hearts  set  upon,  and  that  so  many  of  us  are  living  for. 

God  blessed  that  lesson  upon  the  blackboard  in  a 
marvelous  way,  for  the  man  who  had  been  writing  down 
the  treasures  on  the  board  happened  to  be  an  uncon 
verted  Sunday-school  teacher,  and  had  gone  out  there 
to  California  to  make  money;  his  heart  was  set  upon 
gold,  and  he  was  living  for  that  instead  of  for  God 
That  was  the  idol  of  his  heart,  and  do  you  know  God 


ITS  MICHES. 


95 


convicted  him  at  that  blackboard,  and  the  first  convert 
that  God  gave  me  on  the  Pacific  coast  was  that  mam 
and  he  was  the  last  man  who  shook  hands  with  me  when 
I  left  San  Francisco.  He  saw  how  empty  the  earthly 
treasures  were,  and  how  grand  and  glorious  the  riches 
of  heaven.  Oh,  if  God  would  but  open  your  eyes — 
and  I  think  if  you  are  honest  and  ask  Him  to  do  it 
He  wull — He  will  show  you  how  empty  this  world  is  in 
comparison  with  what  He  has  in  store. 

There  are  a  great  many  people  who  are  wondering 
why  they  do  not  mount  up  on  wings,  as  it  Tvere,  and 
why  they  do  not  make  some  progress  in  the  divine  life ; 
why  they  do  not  grow  more  in  grace.  I  think  one 
reason  may  be  they  have  too  many  earthly  treasures. 
We  need  not  be  rich  to  have  our  hearts  set  on  riches. 

We  need  not  go  in  the  world  more  than  other  people 
to  have  our  hearts  there.  I  believe  the  Prodigal 
was  in  the  far  country  long  before  he  put  his  feet  thera 
When  his  heart  reached  there  he  was  there.  There  is 
many  a  man  who  does  not  mingle  so  much  in  the  w^orld 
as  others  do,  but  his  heart  is  there,  and  he  would  be 
there  if  he  could,  and  God  looks  at  the  heart. 

Now,  what  we  need  to  do  is  to  obey  the  voice  of  the 
M  aster,  and  instead  of  laying  up  treasures  on  earth, 
lay  them  up  in  heaven.  If  we  do  that,  bear  in  mind, 
we  shall  never  be  disappointed. 

It  is  clear  that  idolaters  are  not  going  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God.  I  may  make  an  idol  of  my  business ; 
I  may  make  an  idol  of  the  wife  of  my  bosom ;  I  may 
make  idols  of  my  children.  I  do  not  think  you  need 
go  to  heathen  countries  to  find  men  guilty  of  idolatry, 
i  think  you  will  find  a  great  many  right  here  who  have 


HEAVENS  I 


idols  in  their  hearts.  Let  us  pray  that  the  spirit  ol 
God  may  banish  those  idols  from  our  hearts,  that  W6 
may  not  be  guilty  of  idolatry;  that  we  may  worship 
God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Anything  that  comes 
between  me  and  God  is  an  idol — anything,  I  don’t  care 
what  it  is ;  business  is  all  right  in  its  place,  and  there 
is  no  danger  of  my  loving  my  family  too  much  if  I  love 
God  more ;  but  God  must  have  the  first  place ;  and  if 
He  has  not  then  the  idol  is  set  up. 

ALL  ETERNITY  FOR  REST. 

Not  the  least  of  the  riches  of  heaven  will  be  the  sat¬ 
isfaction  of  those  wants  of  the  soul,  which  are  so  much 
felt  down  here  but  are  never  found — such  as  infinite 
knowledge,  perfect  peace  and  satisfying  love.  Like  s 
beautiful  likeness  that  has  been  marred,  daubed  all 
over  with  streaks  of  black,  and  is  then  restored  to  its 
original  beauty,  so  the  soul  is  restored  to  its  full  beauty 
of  color  when  it  is  washed  with  the  blood  of  J esus  Christ, 
The  senseless  image  on  the  canvas  cannot  be  compared, 
however,  in  any  other  way  with  the  living,  rational  souL 

Could  we  but  see  some  of  our  friends  who  have  gone 
on  before  us  we  would  very  likely  feel  like  falling  down 
before  them.  The  Apostle  John  had  seen  so  many 
strange  things,  yet,  wnen  one  of  the  bright  angels  stood 
before  him  to  reveal  some  of  the  secrets  of  heaven, 
fell  down  to  worship  him.  He  says  in  the  last  chapter 
of  Hevelation: 

“And  I  John  saw  these  things,  and  heard  them.  And  when  I  had 
heard  and  seen,  I  fell  down  to  worship  before  the  feet  of  the  angel 
which  shewed  me  these  things.  Then  saith  he  unto  me,  see  thou  dc 
it  not;  for  I  am  thy  fellow  servant,  and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophetSj 
and  of  them  which  keep  the  sayincrs  of  this  book.  Worship  Gkxi'’*' 


ITS  RICHES. 


95 


Among  the  wants  which  we  have  on  earth  is  the 
thirst  for  knowledge.  Much  as  sin  has  weakened  man’s 
mental  faculties,  it  has  not  taken  away  any  of  his  de¬ 
sire  for  knowledge.  But  with  all  his  efforts,  with  all 
that  he  thinks  he  knows  about  astronomy,  chemistry 
and  geology,  and  the  rest  of  the  sciences,  his  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  secrets  of  nature  is  yet  limited. 

There  are  very  many  things  we  do  not  know.  Thous¬ 
ands  of  astronomers  have  lived  and  died,  and  the  ages 
of  the  world  have  rolled  on,  and  it  was  only  the  other 
day,  as  it  were,  that  they  found  out  that  the  planet 
Mars  had  Wo  moons.  Perhaps  in  ages  to  come  some 
one  will  find  out  that  they  are  not  moons  at  all.  This 
is  what  most  of  our  human  knowledge  amounts  to. 

There  is  not  one  of  our  college  professors,  and  many 
of  them  have  gone  nearly  everywhere  in  the  world,  but 
is  anxious  to  learn  more  and  more,  to  find  out  new 
things,  to  make  new  discoveries.  If  we  were  as  fa¬ 
miliar  with  all  the  stars  of  the  firmament  as  we  are 
with  our  own  earth,  still  we  would  not  be  satisfied. 

Not  until  we  are  like  God  can  we  comprehend  the 
infinite.  Even  the  imperfect  glimpses  of  God  that  we 
get  by  faith,  only  intensify  our  desire  for  more.  For 
now,  as  Paul  says  in  1st  Corinthians  xiii,  12: 

"Now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly;  but  then  face  to  face; 
DOW  I  know  in  part;  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known.’* 

The  word  Paul  used,  properly  translated,  is  “mir- 
ror.”  Now  we  see  God,  as  it  were,  in  a  looking-glass — 
but  then  face  to  face. 

Suppose  we  knew  nothing  of  the  sun  except  what  we 
saw  of  its  light  reflected  from  the  moon?  AVould  we 
not  wonder  about  its^  immense  distance,  about  its 


m 


HEAVEN: 


dazzling  splendor,  about  its  life-giving  power?  Now 
that  we  see,  the  snn,  the  moon,  the  stars,  the  ocean, 
the  earth,  the  flowers,  and  above  all,  man,  are  a  grand 
mirror  in  which  the  perfection  of  God  is  imperfectly 
reflected. 

Another  want  that  we  have  is  rest  We  get  tired  of 
toiling.  Yet  there  is  no  real  rest  on  earth.  We  And  in  the 
4:th  chapter  of  Hebrews,  beginning  with  the  9th  verse: 

“  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest  to  the  people  of  God.  Poj 
he  that  is  entered  into  his  rest,  he  also  hath  ceased  from  his  owe 
works,  a®  God  did  from  His.  Let  us  labor,  therefore,  to  enter  inte. 
that  rest,  lest  any  man  fall  after  the  same  example  of  unbeliet.^’' 

Now,  while  we  all  want  rest,  I  think  a  great  many 
people  make  a  mistake  when  they  think  the  church  is 
a  place  of  rest;  and  when  they  unite  with  the  church 
they  have  a  false  idea  about  their  position  in  it.  There 
are  a  great  many  who  come  in  to  rest.  The  text  tells 
us:  “There  remaineth  a  rest  for  the  people  of  God/’ 
but  it  does  not  tell  us  that  the  church  is  a  place  of  rest; 
we  have  all  eternity  to  rest  in.  We  are  to  rest  by  and 
by ;  but  we  are  to  work  here,  and  when  our  work  is  fin¬ 
ished,  the  Lord  will  call  us  home  to  enjoy  that  rest. 
There  is  no  use  in  talking  about  rest  down  here  in  tha 
enemy’s  country.  We  cannot  rest  in  this  world,  "where 
God’s  Son  has  been  crucified  and  cast  out.  I  think 
that  a  great  many  people  are  going  to  lose  their  re¬ 
ward  just  because  they  have  come  into  the  church  with 
the  idea  that  they  are  to  rest  there,  as  if  the  church 
was  working  for  the  reward,  instead  of  each  one  build¬ 
ing  over  against  his  own  house,  each  one  using  all  hift 
influence  toward  the  building  up  of  Christ’s  kingdom. 

In  Kevelation  xiv,  13.  we  read: 


I7.^S  RICHES, 


97 


j  ■■  ■■-  '  —  ^.  ■  —  — 

**  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed 
are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth;  Yea,  saith  the 
Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors;  and  their  works  dc 
follow  thenL*’ 

Now,  death  may  rob  us  of  money.  Death  may  rob 
as  of  position.  Death  may  rob  us  of  our  friends ;  but 
there  is  one  thing  death  can  never  do,  and  that  is 
rob  us  of  the  work  that  we  do  for  God.  That  will  live 
on  forever^  “Their  works  do  follow  them.”  How 
much  are  we  doing  ?  Anything  that  we  do  outside  of 
ourselves,  and  not  with  a  mean  and  selfish  motive,  that 
IS  going  to  live.  \Ye  have  the  privilege  of  setting  in 
motion  streams  of  activity  that  will  flow  on  when  we 
sre  dead  and  gone. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  everyone  to  live  more  in  the 
mture  than  they  do  in  the  present,  so  that  their  lives 
will  tell  in  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  more  than  they  do  now. 

John  Wesley’s  influence  is  a  thousand-fold  greater 
to-day  than  it  was  when  he  was  living.  He  still  lives. 
He  lives  in  the  lives  of  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  his  spiritual  descendants^ 

Martin  Luther  lives  more  truly  to-day  than  he  did 
three  centuries  ago,  when  he  awakened  Germany. 
He  only  lived  one  life,  and  that  for  a  little  while.  But 
aow,  look  at  the  hundreds  and  thousands  and  millions 
of  lives  that  he  is  living.  There  are  between  fifty  and 
sixty  millions  of  people  who  profess  to  be  followers  of 
th.e  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  taught  by  Martin  Luther, 
who  bear  his  name.  He  is  dead  in  the  sight  of  the 
world,  but  his  “  works  do  follow  him.”  He  still  lives. 

The  voice  of  John  the  Baptist  is  ringing  through 
the  world  to-day,  although  nearly  nineteen  hundred 


98 


HEAVENi 


years  have  'passed  away  since  Herodias  asked  for  hifi 
death.  Herod  thought  when  he  beheaded  him  that  he 
was  hushing  his  voice,  but  it  is  ringing  throughout  the 
earth  to-day.  John  the  Baptist  lives,  because  he  lived 
for  God;  but  he  has  entered  into  his  rest,  and  “his 
works  do  follow  him.” 

And  if  they  up  yonder  can  see  what  is  going  on 
upon  the  earth,  how  much  joy  they  must  have  to  think 
that  they  have  set  these  streams  in  motion,  and  that 
this  work  is  going  on — being  carried  on  after  them. 

If  a  man  lives  a  mean,  selfish  life,  he  goes  down  to 
the  grave,  and  his  name  and  everything  concerning  him 
goes  down  in  the  grave  with  him.  If  he  is  ambitious 
to  leave  a  record  behind  him,  with  a  selfish  motive,  his 
name  rots  with  his  body.  But  if  a  man  gets  outside 
of  himself  and  begins  to  work  for  God,  his  name  will 
live  forever.  Why,  you  may  go  to  Scotland  to-day, 
and  you  will  find  the  influence  of  John  Knox  over  every 
mountain  in  Scotland.  It  seems  as  if  you  could  almost 
feel  the  breath  of  that  man’s  prayer  in  Scotland  to-day. 
His  influence  still  lives.  “  Blessed  are  the  dead  who 
die  in  the  Lord.  They  rest  from  their  labors  and  their 
works  do  follow  them.”  Blessed  rest  in  store;  w'e  will 
rest  by  and  by;  but  we  should  not  waste  time  talking 
about  rest  while  we  are  here.,  c  »  .  . 

If  I  am  to  wipe  a  tear  from  the  cheek  of  that  father* 
less  boy,  I  must  do  it  down  here.  It  is  not  said  in 
Scripture  that  we  shall  have  the  privilege  of  doing  that 
hereafter.  If  I  am  going  to  help  up  some  fallen  man 
who  has  been  overtaken  by  sin,  I  must  do  it  here.  We 
are  not  going  to  have  the  privilege  of  being  co-workers 
wth  God  in  the  future — -but  that  is  our  privilege 


XTS  EXCHEa. 


99 


5JMiay.  We  may  not  have  it  to-morrow.  It  may  be 
iiaken  from  us  to-morrow;  but  we  can  enter  into  the 
nneyard  and  do  something  to-day  before  the  sun  goes 
down.  We  can  do  something  now  before  we  go  to 

glory. 

Another  want  that  we  feel  here  is  Love.  Heaven  is 
the  only  place  where  the  conditions  of  love  can  be  ful* 
Slled.  There  love  is  essentially  mutual.  Everybody 
loves  everybody  else.  In  this  world  of  wickedness  and 
sin  it  seems  impossible  for  people  to  be  all  on  a  perfect 
equality.  When  we  meet  people  who  are  bright  and 
beautiful  and  good,  we  have  no  difficulty  in  iovino 
them.  All  the  people  of  heaven  will  be  like  that  There 
will  be  no  fear  of  misplaced  confidences  there.  There 
jV9  shall  never  be  deceived  by  those  we  love.  When 
suspicion  of  doubt  fastens  upon  any  one  who  loves,  theii 
happiness  L’om  that  moment  is  at  an  end.  There  wifi 
D6  no  suspicion  there. 

Beyond  these  chilling  ^yinds  and  gloomy  skifle. 

Beyond  death's  cloudy  portal, 

There  is  a  land  where  beauty  never  dies-” 

Where  k»ve  becomes  immortal" 


©nie  5e)a^. 

BY  TIMOTHY  POLAND. 

Ye  ken,  dear  bairn,  that  we  maun  part. 
When  death,  canid  death,  shall  bid  us  start; 
But  when  he’ll  send  his  fearfu’  dart 
We  canna  say. 

So  we’ll  mak’  ready  for  his  dart 
Maist  onie  day. 

We’ll  keep  a’  right  and  guid  wi’in, 

Our  wark  will  then  be  free  frae  sin. 

Upright  we’ll  walk  through  thick  and  thin, 
Straight  on  our  way. 

Deal  just  wi’  a’,  the  prize  we’ll  win 
Maist  onie  day. 

Te  ken  there’s  Ane,  wha’s  just  and  wise, 

Has  said  that  a’  His  bairns  should  rise. 

An’  soar  aboon  the  lofty  skies, 

And  there  shall  stay. 

Being  well  prepared  we’ll  gain  the  prize 
Maist  onie  day. 

When  He  wha  made  a’  things  just  right. 
Shall  call  us  hence  to  realms  of  light. 

Be  it  morn  or  noon,  or  e’en  or  night 
We  will  obey. 

We’ll  be  prepared  to  tak’  our  flight 
Maist  onie  day. 

Our  lamps  we’ll  fill  brimfu’  o’  oil, 

Thet’s  guid  and  pure,  that  wadna  spoil, 

And  keep  them  burning  a’  the  while. 

To  light  our  way. 

Our  wark  bein’  done  we’U  quit  the  soil, 
Maist  onie  day. 


100 


eH’ea'sen: 


ITS  REWARDS. 


riot  ^erel ,  flof  Jfefe-*’ 


Not  here!  Not  here!  Not  where  the  sparkling  watar^ 
Fade  into  mocking  sands  as  we  draw  near; 

Where,  in  the  wilderness,  each  footstep  falters  i 
“I  shall  be  satisfied;”  but  oh,  not  here! 

There  is  a  land  where  every  pulse  is  thrilling 
With  rapture  earth’s  sojourners  may  not  know, 

Where  heaven’s  repose  the  weary  heart  is  stilling. 

And  peacefully  life’s  storm-tossed  currents  floT7. 

^  Satisfied !  Satisfied !  ”  The  spirit’s  yea i  u  mg 
For  sweet  cS^EJpanionship  with  kindred  minds^ 

The  silent  lorn  that  here  meets  no  returning, 

The  inspirati&n  which  no  language  finds. 

’•  1  shall  be  satisfied.”  The  soul’s  vague  longings 
The  aching  void  which  nothing  earthly  fills! 

Oh!  What  desires  upon  my  soul  are  thronging 
As  I  look  upward  to  the  heavenly  hills. 

Thither  my  weak  and  weary  steps  are  tending; 

Savior  and  Lord,  with  thy  frail  child  abide; 

Guide  me  toward  Home,  where,  all  my  wanderings  endei^ 
I  then  shall  see  Thee^  and  *^be  satisfied,'* 


ITS  RE W AMDS. 


103 


CHAPTER  VI 

ITS  REWARDS. 


Every  man  shall  receive  his  own  reward  according  to  his  own 
labor.  I  Cor.  iii,  8. 

My  reward  is  with  Me,  to  give  every  man  according  as  his  wor^ 
shall  be.  Eev.  xxii,  12. 

If  I  understand  things  correctly,  whenever  you  find 
men  or  women  who  are  looking  to  be  rewarded  here 
for  doing  right,  they  are  unqualified  to  work  for  God,; 
because  if  they  are  looking  for  the  applause  of  men, 
looking  for  reward  in  this  life,  it  will  disqualify  tliom 
for  the  service  of  God,  because  they  are  all  the  while 
compromising  truth. 

They  are  afraid  of  hurting  some  one’s  feelinga 
They  are  afraid  that  some  one  is  going  to  say  some¬ 
thing  against  them,  or  there  will  be  some  newspaper 
articles  written  against  them.  Now,  we  must  trample 
the  world  under  our  feet  if  we  are  going  to  get  our  re¬ 
ward  hereafter.  If  we  live  for  God  we  must  suffer  per 
secution.  The  kingdom  of  darkness  and  the  kingdom 
of  light  are  at  war,  and  have  been,  and  will  be  as  long 
as  Satan  is  permitted  to  reign  in  this  world.  As  long 
as  the  kingdom  of  darkness  is  permitted  to  exist,  there 
will  be  a  conflict,  and  if  you  want  to  be  popular  in  the 


104 


HEAVEN: 


kingdom  of  God,  if  you  want  to  be  popular  in  heaven, 
and  get  a  reward  that  shall  last  forever,  you  willTiave 
to  be  unpopular  here. 

If  you  seek  the  applause  of  men,  you  can’t  have  the 
Lord  say  “Well  done”  at  the  end  of  the  journey 
You  can’t  have  both.  Why  ?  Because  this  world  is  at 
war  with  God.  This  idea  that  the  world  is  getting  bet¬ 
ter  all  the  while  is  false.  The  old  natural  heart  is  just 
as  much  at  enmity  with  God  as  it  was  when  Cain  slew 
Abel.  Sin  leaped  into  the  world  full  grown  in  Cain. 
And  from  the  time  that  Cain  was  born  into  the  world  to 
the  present,  man  by  nature  has  been  at  war  with  God. 
This  world  was  not  established  in  grace,  and  we  have  to 
fight  “the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil;”  and  if  we 
fight  the  world,  the  world  won’t  like  us;  and  if  we  fight 
the  flesh,  the  flesh  won’t  like  us.  We  have  to  mortify 
the  flesh.  We  have  to  crucify  the  old  man  and  put 
him  under.  Then,  by  and  by,  we  will  get  our  reward, 
and  a  glorious  reward  it  will  be. 

We  read  in  Luke  xvi,  15; 

And  He  said  unto  them,  Ye  are  they  which  justify  yourselves 
before  men;  but  God  knoweth  your  hearts;  for  that  which  is  highly 
Bsteemed  among  men  is  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God.” 

We  must  go  right  against  the  current  of  this  world. 
If  the  world  has  nothing  to  say  against  us,  we  can  be 
pretty  sure  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  very  little  to 
say  for  us.  There  are  those  who  do  not  like  to  go 
against  the  current  of  the  world.  They  say  they  know 
this  and  that  is  wrong,  bat  they  do  not  say  a  wwd 
against  it  lest  it  might  make  them  unpopular.  If  we 
expect  to  get  the  reward  we  must  fight  the  good  fight 
of  faith=  For  all  such,  as  Paul  has  said,  “  there  is  laid 


ITS  REWARDS, 


lO- 

up  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  right 
eons  Judge,  shall  give  us  at  that  day.” 

FEAR  OF  DEATH. 

How  little  do  we  realize  the  meaning  of  the  word 
ETERNITY !  The  wliole  time  between  the  creation  of  the 
world  and  the  ending  of  it  would  not  make  a  day  in 
eternity.  In  time,  it  is  like  the  infinity  of  space,  whose 
center  is  everywhere  and  whose  boundary  is  nowhere. 
We  read  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews: 

“  Forasmuch,  then,  as  the  children  are  parta.feers  of  flesh  and 
blood,  He,  also  Himself,  likewise  took  part  of  the  same;  that 
through  death  He  might  destroy  Him  that  had  the  power  of  death 
—that  is  the  devil — and  deliver  them  who,  through  fear  of  death, 
were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.” 

There  are  a  great  many  of  God’s  professed  children 
who  live  in  continual  bondage,  in  the  constant  fear  of 
death.  I  believe  that  it  is  dishonoring  God.  I  believe 
that  it  is  not  His  will  to  have  one  of  His  children  live 
in  fear  for  one  moment.  If  you  know  the  truth  as  it  ia 
in  Christ,  there  need  be  no  fear,  there  need  be  no  dread, 
because  death  will  only  hasten  you  on  to  glory ;  and  your 
names  are  already  there. 

And  then  the  next  thought  is  for  those  who  are  dear 
to  us.  I  believe  that  it  is  not  only  our  privilege  to 
have  our  names  written  in  heaven,  but  those  of  the 
children  whom  God  has  given  us ;  and  our  hearts  ought 
to  go  right  out  for  them.  The  promise  is  not  only  to 
us,  but  to  our  children.  Many  a  father’s  and  many  a 
mother’s  heart  is  burdened  with  anxiety  for  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  their  children.  If  your  own  name  is  there,  let 
your  next  aim  in  life  be  to  get  the  children  whom  God 
has  given  you,  there  also. 


HEAVENt 


A  mother  was  dying  in  one  of  onr  Eastern  cities  a 
tew  years  ago,  and  she  had  a  large  family  of  children. 
She  died  of  consumption,  and  the  children  were 
brought  in  to  her  one  by  one  as  she  was  sinking.  She 
gave  the  oldest  one  her  last  message  and  her  dying 
blessing;  and  as  the  next  one  was  brought  in  she  put 
her  hand  upon  its  head  and  gave  it  her  blessing ;  and 
then  the  next  one  was  brought  in,  and  the  next,  until 
at  last  they  brought  in  the  little  infant.  She  took  it  to 
her  bosom  and  pressed  to  her  loving  heart,  and  her 
friends  saw  that  it  was  hastening  her  end ;  that  she  was 
excited,  and  as  they  went  to  take  the  little  child  from 
her,  she  said:  ^“My  husband,  I  charge  you  to  bring 
all  these  children  home  with  you.”  Ana  so  God 
charges  us  parents  to  bring  our  children  home  with  us ; 
not  only  to  have  our  own  names  written  in  heaven,  but 
those  of  our  children  also. 

An  eminent  Christian  worker  in  New  York  told  me 
a  story  that  affected  me  very  much. 

A  father  had  a  son  who  had  been  sick  some  time,  but 
he  did  not  consider  him  dangerously  ill ;  until  one  day 
he  came  home  to  dinner  and  found  his  wife  weeping, 
and  he  asked,  “  What  is  the  trouble?” 

“  There  has  been  a  great  change  in  our  boy  since 
morning,”  the  mother  said,  “  and  I  am  afraid  he  is 
dying ;  1  wish  you  to  go  in  and  see  him,  and,  if  you  think 
he  is,  I  wish  you  to  tell  him  so,  for  I  cannot  bear  to.” 

The  father  went  in  and  sat  down  by  the  bed-side, ' 
and  he  placed  his  hand  upon  his  forehead,  and  he  could 
feel  the  cold,  damp  sweat  of  death,  and  knew  its  cold, 
icy  hand  was  feeling  for  the  cords  of  life,  and  that 
his  boy  was  soon  to  be  taken  away,  and  he  said  to  him: 


ITS  REWARDS 


**  My  son,  do  you  know  you  are  dying  ? 

Tlie  little  fellow  looked  up  at  him  and  said: 

*‘No;  am  I?  Is  this  death  that  I  feel  stealing  am 
me,  father?” 

**  Yes,  my  son,  you  are  dying.” 

“  Will  I  live  the  day  out  ?  ” 

“  No;  you  may  die  at  any  moment” 

He  looked  up  to  his  father,  and  he  said:  WeE^  I 

yhall  be  with  Jesus  to-night,  won’t  I,  father?” 

And  the  father  answered:  “Yes,  my  boy,  you  will 
spend  to-night  with  the  Savior,”  and  the  father  turned 
away  to  conceal  the  tears,  that  the  little  boy  might  noi 
see  him  weep;  but  he  saw  the  tears,  and  he  said: 

“Father,  don’t  you  weep  for  me;  when  I  get  tc 
heaven  I  will  go  straight  to  Jesus  and  tell  Him  that  eves 
since  I  can  remember  you  have  tried  to  lead  me  to  Him.'^ 

I  have  three  children,  and  the  greatest  desire  of  m^ 
heart  is  that  they  may  be  saved;  that  I  may  know  tlia"^ 
their  names  are  written  in  the  Book  of  Life.  I  ma]^ 
be  taken  from  them  early;  I  may  leave  them  in  this 
changing  world  witliout  a  father’s  care ;  but  I  would 
rather  have  my  children  say  that  of  me  after  I  am 
dead  and  gone,  or  if  they  die  before  me  I  would 
rather  they  should  take  that  message  to  tlie  Master— 
that  ever  since  they  can  remember  I  have  tried  to  lead 
them  to  the  Master — than  to  have  a  monument  over  mt 
reaching  to  the  skies. 

AVe  ought  not  to  look  upon  death  as  we  do.  Bishop 
Heber  has  written  of  a  dead  friend: 

"Thou  art  gone  to  the  grave!  but  we  will  not  deplore 
Though  sorrow  and  darkness  encompass  the  tomb; 

Thy  Savior  has  passed  through  its  portals  before  thee, 

^nd  the  lamp  of  His  love  is  thy  guide  through  the  gloooi 


108 


HEAVEN: 


**Thoti  am  gone  to  the  grave!  We  no  longer  behold  thee, , 

Nor  tread  the  rough  paths  of  the  world  by  thy  side; 

But  the  wide  arms  of  Mercy  are  spread  to  enfold  thee, 

And  sinners  may  die,  for  the  Sinless  has  died.” 

The  roll  is  being  called,  and  one  after  another  sum¬ 
moned  away,  but  if  the  names  of  our  loved  ones  are 
there,  if  we  know  that  they  are  saved,  how  sweet  it  is, 
after  they  have  left  us,  to  think  that  we  shall  meet  them 
by  and  by;  that  we  shall  see  them  in  the  morn  when 
the  night  has  worn  away. 

During  the  late  war  a  young  man  lay  on  a  cot,  and 
they  heard  him  say,  “  Here,  here!  ”  and  some  one  went 
to  his  cot  and  wanted  to  know  what  he  wanted,  and  he 
said,  “Hark!  Hush,  don’t  you  hear  them ? ”  “Hear 
whom  ?  ”  was  asked.  “  They  are  calling  the  roll  of 
heaven,”  he  said,  and  pretty  soon  he  answered,  “Here!” 
— and  he  was  gone.  If  our  names  are  in  the  Book  of 
Life,  by  and  by  when  the  name  is  called,  we  can  say 
with  Samuel,  “Here  am  II”  and  fly  away  to  meet 
Him.  And  if  our  children  are  called  away  early, 
O,  it  is  so  sweet  to  think  that  they  died  in  Christ ;  that 
the  great  Shepherd  gathers  them  in  His  arms  and  car¬ 
ries  them  in  His  bosom,  and  that  we  shall  meet  them 
by  and  by. 

PAUL,  THE  CHRISTIAN  HERO. 

The  way  to  get  to  heaven  is  to  be  saved  through  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ 

We  get  salvation  as  a  gift,  but  we  have  to  work  it 
out,  just  as  if  we  got  a  gold  mine  for  a  gift 

I  do  not  get  a  crown  by  joining  the  church,  or  rent 
lug  a  pew. 

There  was  Paul.  He  won  his  crown.  He  had  many 
i  hard  fight;  he  met  Satan  on  many  a  battle-field,  and 


ITS  REWARDS. 


109 


fae  overcame  him  and  wore  the  crown.  It  would  take 
about  ten  thousand  of  the  average  Christians  of 
this  day  or  any  other  to  make  one  of  Paul.  When  I 
read  the  life  of  that  Apostle,  I  blush  for  the  Christian¬ 
ity  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  a  weak  and  sickly 
thing. 

See  what  he  went  through.  He  five  times  was 
scourged.  The  old  Roman  custom  of  scourging  was  to 
take  the  prisoner  and  bind  his  wrists  together  and  bend 
him  over  in  a  stooping  posture,  and  the  Roman  soldier 
would  bring  the  lash,  braided  with  sharp  pieces  of  steel 
down  upon  the  bare  back  of  the  prisoner  and  cut  him 
through  the  skin,  so  that  men  sometimes  died  in  the 
act  of  being  scourged.  But  Paul  says  he  was  scourged 
five  different  times.  Now  if  we  should  get  one  stripe 
upon  our  backs  what  a  whining  there  would  be;  there 
would  be  forty  publishers  after  us  before  the  sun  went 
down,  and  they  would  want  to  publish  our  lives,  that 
they  could  make  capital  out  of  them.  But  Paul  says, 
“Five  times  received  I  forty  stripes,  save  one.”  That 
was  nothing  for  him.  Take  your  stand  by  his  side. 

“Paul,  you  have  been  beaten  by  these  Jews  four 
times,  and  they  are  going  to  give  you  thirty-nine  stripes 
more ;  what  are  you  going  to  do  after  you  get  out  of 
the  difficulty?  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  all? 

“Do  ?”  says  he.  “I  will  do  this  one  thing;  I  will 
press  toward  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  my  high  calling ; 
1  am  on  my  way  to  get  my  crown.”  He  was  not  going 
to  lose  his  crown.  “  Don’t  think  that  a  few  stripes  will 
.turn  me  away ;  these  light  afflictions  are  nothing.” 

And  so  they  put  on  thirty-nine  more  stripes. 

lie  had  spining  into  the  race  for  Clirist,  as  it  were, 


110 


HEAVEN^ 


and  was  leaping  toward  heaven.  If  you  will  allow  ma 
the  expression,  the  devil  got  his  match  when  he  met 
Panic  He  never  switched  off  to  a  side-track.  He 
never  sat  down  to  write  a  letter  to  defend  himself.  All 
the  strength  that  he  had  he  gave  to  Christ.  He  never 
gave  a  particle  to  the  world  nor  to  himself  to  defend 
himself,  “  This  one  thing  I  do,”  he  said,  “  I  am  not 
going  to  lose  the  crown-”  See  that  no  man  take  your 
crown. 

“Thrice  beaten  with  rods.”  Take  your  stand  again 
beside  him, 

“  Now,  Paul,  they  have  beaten  you  twice,  and  they 
are  going  to  beat  you  again.  What  are  you  going  to 
do?  Are  you  going  to  continue  preaching?  If  yoi^ 
are,  let  me  give  you  a  littl  advice.  Now,  don’t  be 
quite  so  radical;  be  a  little  more  conservative;  just  use 
a  little  finer  language,  and,  so  to  speak,  cover  up  the 
cross  with  beautiful  words  and  fiowery  sentences,  and 
tell  men  that  they  are  pretty  good  after  all ;  that  they 
are  not  so  bad,  and  try  and  pacify  the  Jews;  make 
friends  with  them,  and  get  in  with  the  world,  and  the 
world  will  think  more  of  you.  Don’t'  be  so  earnest; 
don’t  be  so  radical,  Paul ;  now  come,  take  our  advice, 
What  are  you  going  to  do?  ” 

“Do?”  he  says,  “I  do  this  one  thing — J  press 
toward  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  my  high  calling,”  Sc 
they  put  on  the  rods,  and  every  blo-w  lifts  him  nearer 
God. 

Take  your  stand  with  him  again.  They  begin  to 
stone  him.  That  is  the  way  they  killed  those  who  did 
Biot  preach  to  suit  them. 

It  seems  as  if  he  was  about  to  be  paid  back  in  hk 


J[TS  REWABDS. 


Ill 


y^n  coin,  for  when  Stephen  was  stoned  to  death,  Patil, 
*ii8a  known  as  Sanl,  cheered  on  the  crowd. 

**Now,  Paul,  this  is  growing  serious;  hadn’t  you  bet- 
cer  take  back  some  of  the  things  you  have  said  about 
Jesus?  What  are  j’ou  going  to  do?” 

“Do?”  he  says,  “if  they  take  my  life  I  will  only 
get  my  crown  the  sooner.” 

He  would  not  budge  an  inch.  He  had  something 
that  the  world  could  not  give;  he  had  something  it 
could  not  take  away ;  he  had  eternal  life,  and  he  had  in 
store  a  crown  of  gloryc 

THESE  LIGHT  AFFLICTIONS. 

Three  times  was  he  shipwrecked;  a  day  and  a  night 
in  the  deep.  Look  at  that  mighty  apostle,  a  whole 
day  and  night  in  the  deep.  There  he  was — ship¬ 
wrecked,  and  for  what?  Was  it  to  make  money?  He 
was  not  after  money.  He  was  just  going  from  city  to 
city,  and  town  to  town,  to  preach  the  glorious  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  to  lift  up  the  cross  wherever  he  had 
opportunity.  He  went  down  to  Corinth  and  preached 
eighteen  months,  and  he  didn’t  have  a  lot  of  the  lead¬ 
ing  ministers  of  Corinth  to  come  on  the  platform  and 
sit  by  his  side  when  he  preached.  There  was  not  a 
man  who  stood  by  him.  When  he  reached  Corinth  he 
had  none  of  the  leading  business  men  to  3tand  by  him 
and  advise  him;  but  the  little  tent-maker  arrives  in 
Corinth  a  perfect  stranger,  and  the  first  thing  he  does 
is  to  find  a  place  where  he  can  make  a  tent;  he  does  not 
go  to  a  hotel ;  his  means  will  not  allow  it;  he  goes  where 
he  can  make  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow.  Think 
of  that  great  apostle  making  a  tent,  and  then  getting 


112 


HEAVEN: 


on  the  corner  of  a  street  and  preaching,  and  perhaps 
once  in  a  while  he  would  get  into  a  synagogue,  but  -the 
Jews  would  turn  him  out;  they  did  not  want  to  hear 
him  preach  anything  about  Jesus  the  Crucified. 

When  I  read  of  the  life  of  such  a  man,  how  I  blush 
to  think  how  sickly  and  dwarfed  Christianity  is  at  the 
present  time,  and  how  many  hundreds  there  are  who 
never  think  of  working  for  the  Son  of  God  and  honor¬ 
ing  Christ. 

Yet  when  he  wrote  that  letter  back  to  Corinth,  we 
find  him  taking  an  inventory  of  some  things  he  had. 
He  is  rich,  he  says,  “  In  journeying  soften,  in  perils  of 
waters,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  by  my  own  coun¬ 
trymen,  in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city, 
in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils 
among  false  brethren.”  This  last  must  have  been 
the  hardest  of  all.  “  In  weariness  and  painfulness,  in 
watchings  often ;  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  of  ter  ; 
in  cold,  in  nakedness ;  and  besides  those  things  that  are 
without,  the  care  of  all  the  churches.”  (II  Cor.  xi,  26- 
28. )  These  are  only  some  of  the  things  that  he  summed 
up.  Do  you  know  what  made  him  so  exceedingly  hap¬ 
py  ?  It  was  because  he  believed  the  Scripture ;  he  be¬ 
lieved  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  We  profess  to  be¬ 
lieve  it;  we  pretend  to  believe  it;  but  few  of  us  more 
than  half  believe  it.  Listen  to  one  sentence  in  that 
sermon:  “Eejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  for  great  is 
your  reward  in  heaven,”  when  you  are  persecuted. 
Noav  persecution  was  about  all  that  Paul  had. 

That  was  his  capital,  and  he  had  a  good  deal  of  it; 
he  had  laid  by  a  good  many  persecutions,  and  he  was 
to  get  a  great  reward  Christ  says:  “Eejoice  and  be 


ITS  REWARDS. 


113 


exceeding  glad,  for  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven.” 
If  Jesus  Christ  spoke  of  it  as  “great”  it  must  be 
indeed  wonderful.  We  call  things  great  that  may  look 
very  small  to  Jesus  Christ;  and  things  that  look  very 
small  to  us  may  look  very  large  to  Him.  When  the 
great  Christ,  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  He  who 
formed  the  heavens  and  the  earth  by  His  mighty  power, 
when  He  calls  it  a  great  reward,  what  must  it  be? 

Perhaps  some  people  said  to  the  Apostle  to  the  Gen¬ 
tiles:  “Now,  Paul,  you  are  meeting  with  too  much 
opposition;  you  are  suffering  too  much.” 

Hear  him  reply:  “  Our  light  affliction,  which  is  but 
for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory.” 

“  Our  light  affliction,”  he  calls  it.  We  would  have 
called  it  pretty  hard,  pretty  heavy,  would  we  not?  ” 

But  he  says:  “These  light  afflictions  are  nothing; 
think  of  the  glory  before  me,  and  think  of  the  crowning 
time ;  think  of  the  reward  that  is  laid  up  for  me.  I  am 
on  my  way;  the  Bighteous  Judge  will  give  it  to  me 
when  the  time  comes;”  and  that  is  what  filled  his  soifi 
with  joy;  it  was  the  thought  of  reward  that  the  Lore 
had  in  store  for  him. 

Now,  my  friends,  let  us  just  for  a  minute  think  of 
what  Paul  accomplished.  Think  of  going  out,  as  it 
were,  among  the  heathen ;  the  first  missionary  to  preach 
to  these  men,  who  were  so  full  of  wickedness,  so  full  or 
enmity  and  bitterness,  the  glorious  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  tell  them  that  the  man  who  died  outside 
the  walls  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem  the  death  of  a  com. 
mon  prisoner,  a  common  felon,  in  the  sight  of  tha 
world,  was  the  promised  Christ;  to  tell  them  that  they 
8 


114 


HEAVEN: 


had  to  believe  in  that  crucified  Man  in  order  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Think  of  the  dark  mountain  that 
rose  up  before  him;  think  of  the  opposition;  think  of 
the  bitter  persecution,  and  then  think  of  the  trifles  in 
our  way. 

SONGS  IN  PRISON. 

But  a  great  many  worldly  people  think  Paul’s  life 
was  a  failure.  Probably  his  enemies,  when  they  put 
him  in  prison,  thought  that  would  silence  him ;  but  do 
you  know  that  I  believe  to-day  Paul  thanks  God  more 
for  prisons,  for  stripes,  for  the  persecution  and  opposi¬ 
tion  that  he  suffered,  than  for  anything  else  that  hap¬ 
pened  to  him  here? 

The  very  things  we  do  not  like  are  sometimes  the 
very  best  for  us. 

Christians  probably  might  not  have  these  glorious 
Epistles,  if  Paul  had  not  been  thrown  into  prison.  There 
he  took  up  his  pen  and  wrote  letters  to  the  Christians 
in  Galatia,  Ephesus,  Philippi,  Colossae,  and  to  Phile  . 
mon  and  Timothy.  Look  at  the  two  Epistles  that  he 
vrote  to  the  Corinthians.  How  much  has  been  done 
loT  the  world  by  these  Epistles.  What  a  blessing  they 
have  been  to  the  church  God ;  how  great  a  light  they 
have  thrown  on  many  a  man’s  life.  But  we  might  not 
have  had  those  Epistles  if  it  had  not  been  for  persecu¬ 
tion. 

Perhaps  John  Bunyan  blesses  God  more  to-day  for 
Bedford  jail  than  anything  that  happened  to  him. 
Probably  we  would  not  have  the  Pilgrim’s  Progress  it 
he  had  not  been  thrown  into  that  prison.  Satan  thought 
he  accomplished  a  great  deal  when  he  shut  up  Bunyan 


ITS  REWARDS. 


115 


for  twelve  years  and  six  months ;  but  what  a  blessing 
it  was  to  the  world ;  and  I  believe  Paul  blesses  God  to¬ 
day  for  the  Philippian  jail,  and  for  the  imprisonment 
he  suffered  in  Eome,  because,  it  gave  him  time  to  write 
those  blessed  letters.  Talk  of  Alexander  making  the 
world  tremble  with  the  tread  of  his  armies,  and  of  Caesar 
and  Napoleon’s  power,  but  here  is  a  little  tent-maker, 
who,  without  an  army,  turned  the  world  upside  down. 

Why? 

Because  God  Almighty  was  with  him. 

Paul  says  in  one  place:  “None  of  these  things  move 
me.”  (Acts  xx,  24.)  They  threw  him  in  prison,  but  it 
was  all  the  same;  it  did  not  move  him.  When  he  was 
at  Corinth  and  Athens  preaching,  it  made  no  difference. 
He  just  “pressed  toward  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  his 
high  calling.”  If  God  wanted  him  to  go  throu  ^h 
prisons  to  win  the  prize,  it  was  all  the  same  to  him. 
They  put  him  in  prison,  but  they  put  the  Almighty  in 
with  him,  and  Paul  was  so  linked  to  Jesus  that  they 
could  not  separate  them.  He  would  rather  be  in  prison 
with  Christ  than  out  of  prison  without  Him.  He 
would  a  thousand  times  rather  be  cast  into  prison  with 
the  Son  of  God  and  suffer  a  little  persecution  for  a  few 
days  here,  than  to  be  living  at  ease  without  Him. 

He  heard  the  cry,  “Come  over  into  Macedonia  and 
help  us.”  He  went  over  and  preached,  and  the  first 
thing  that  happened  to  him  was  that  he  was  put  into 
the  Philippian  jail.  Now,  if  he  had  been  as  fainb 
hearted  as  most  of  us,  he  would  have  been  disappointed 
and  cast  down.  There  would  have  been  a  great  com¬ 
plaint. 

Me  would  have  said:  “  This  is  a  strange  Providence: 


116 


HEAVEN: 


whatever  brought  me  here  ?  I  thought  the  Lord  called 
me  here;  here  I  am  in  prison  in  a  strange  city; "how 
did  1  ever  get  here  ?  How  will  I  ever  get  out  of  this 
place?  I  have  no  money;  I  have  no  friends;  I  have  no 
attorney;  I  have  no  one  to  intercede  for  me,  and  here 
I  am.”  Paul  and  Silas  were  not  only  in  prison,  but 
their  feet  were  made  fast  in  the  stocks.  There  they 
were,  in  the  inner  prison,  a  dark,  cold,  damp  dungeon. 
But  at  midnight  the  other  prisoners  heard  a  strange 
sound.  They  had  never  heard  anything  like  it  before. 
They  heard  singing.  I  do  not  know  what  song  those 
two  imprisoned  evangelists  sang,  but  I  know  one  thing, 
it  was  not  “  a  doleful  sound  from  the  tombs.”  You 
know  we  have  a  hymn,  “  Hark,  from  the  tombs  a  dole¬ 
ful  sound.”  They  did  not  sing  that,  but  the  Bible  tells 
u[  they  sang  praises.  That  was  a  queer  place  to  sing 
piaises,  was  it  not? 

I  suppose  it  was  time  for  the  evening  prayers,  and 
that  they  had  just  had  their  evening  prayer  and  then 
sang  their  evening  hymn.  And  God  answered  their 
prayers,  and  the  old  prison  shook,  and  the  chains 
dropped,  and  the  prison  doors  were  opened.  Yes,  yes; 
I  have  no  doubt  that  in  glory  he  thanks  God  that  he 
went  to  jail  and  that  the  Philippian  jailer  became  con- 
verted. 


SWEPT  INTO  GLOEY. 

But  look  at  him  at  Borne.  Nero  has  signed  hL 
death  warrant.  Take  your  stand  and  look  at  the  little 
man.  He  is  small;  in  the  sight  of  the  world  he  is 
contemptible  (II  Cor.  xii,  10) ;  the  world  frowns  upor 
him.  Go  to  the  palace  of  the  king  and  talk  about  thai 


ITS  BEWATDS. 


117 


jjriminal — about  Paul — and  you  will  see  a  sneer  on 
their  countenances. 

“  Oh,  he  is  a  fanatic,”  they  say;  “  he  has  gone  mad.” 
I  wish  the  world  was  filled  with  such  fanatics.  I  tell 
you  what  we  want  to-day  is  a  few  fanatics  like  him; 
men  who  fear  nothing  but  sin  and  love  no  one  but  God. 

Rome  never  had  such  a  conqueror  within  her  walls. 
Rome  never  had  such  a  mighty  man  as  Paul  within  her 
boundaries.  Although  the  world  looked  down  upon 
him,  and  perhaps  he  looked  very  small  and  contempti¬ 
ble,  yet  in  the  sight  of  heaven  he  was  the  mightiest 
man  who  ever  trod  the  streets  of  Rome.  Probably 
there  will  never  be  another  one  like  him  traveling  those 
streets.  The  Son  of  God  walked  with  him,  and  the 
form  of  the  Fourth  was  with  him.  But  go  into  that 
prison;  there  he  is;  officials  come  to  him  and  tell  him 
that  Nero  has  signed  his  death-warrant.  He  does  not 
tremble;  he  is  not  afraid. 

‘‘  Paul,  are  you  not  sorry  you  have  been  so  zealous 
for  Christ  ?  It  is  going  to  cost  you  your  life ;  if  you 
had  to  live  it  over  again,  would  you  give  it  to  J esus  of 
Nazareth?  ”  What  do  you  think  the  old  warrier  would 
reply  ? 

See  that  eye  light  up  as  he  says:  “  If  I  had  ten  thous¬ 
and  lives  I  should  give  every  one  of  those  lives  to 
Christ,  and  the  only  regret  I  have  is  that  I  did  not 
commence  earlier  and  serve  Him  better;  the  only  regret 
I  have  now  is  that  I  ever  lifted  my  voice  against  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.” 

“  But  they  are  going  to  behead  you.” 

‘  Well,  they  may  take  my  head,  but  the  Lord  has  my 
heart  I  care  nothing  about  my  head;  the  Lord  has 


118 


n±]AVEN: 


my  heart  and  has  had  it  for  years.  They  cannot  sep¬ 
arate  me  from  the  Lord,  and  when  my  head  is  taken 
off,  I  shall  depart  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better.’^ 

And  they  led  him  out.  I  do  not  know  at  what  hour  i 
perhaps  it  was  early  in  the  morning.  There  is  a  tra¬ 
dition  tells  us  that  they  led  him  two  miles  out  of  the 
city.  Look  at  the  little  tent-maker  as  he  goes  through 
the  streets  of  Kome  with  a  firm  tread.  Look  at  that 
giant  as  he  moves  through  the  streets.  He  is  on  his 
way  to  execution.  Take  your  stand  by  his  side  and 
hear  him  talk.  He  is  talking  of  the  glory  beyond. 

He  says:  “Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  of  righteousness.  I  shall  see  the  King  in  His 
beauty  to-night.  I  have  longed  to  be  with  Him;  I 
have  longed  to  see  Him.  This  is  the  day  of  my 
crowning,” 

The  world  scoffed  at  him,  but  he  did  not  hee  dits 
scofiing.  He  had  something  the  world  had  not;  burn¬ 
ing  within  him  he  had  a  love  and  zeal  which  the  world 
knew  nothing  about.  Ah,  the  love  that  Paul  had  for 
Jesus  Christ!  But,  oh,  the  greater  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
had  for  Paul! 

The  hour  has  come.  The  way  they  used  to  behead 
them  in  those  days  was  for  the  prisoner  to  bend  his 
head,  when  a  Eoman  soldier  took  a  sword  and  cut  it 
off*.  The  hour  had  come,  and  I  seem  to  see  Paul,  with 
a  joyful  countenance,  bending  his  blessed  head,  as  the 
soldier’s  sword  comes  down  and  sets  his  spirit  free. 

If  our  eyes  could  look  as  Elisha’s  looked,  we  might 
have  seen  him  leap  into  a  chariot  of  light  like  Elijah; 
we  would  have  seen  him  go  sweeping  through  limiliess 
space. 


ITS  REWARDS, 


11^ 


Look  at  him  now  as  he  mounts  higher  and  higher ; 
V)ok  at  him,  see  him  move  up;  up — up — up — ever 
apward. 

Look  at  him  yonder! 

See!  He  is  entering  now  the  Eternal  City  of  the 
glorified  saints,  the  blissful  abode  of  the  Savior’s 
redeemed.  The  prize  he  so  long  has  sought  is  at  hand. 
See  the  gates  yonder ;  how  they  fly  wide  open.  See  the 
herald  angels  on  the  shining  battlements  of  heaven. 
Hear  the  glad  shout  that  is  passed  along,  “  He  is  com¬ 
ing!  He  is  coming!”  And  he  goes  sweeping  through 
the  pearly  gates,  along  the  shining  way,  to  the  very 
throne  of  God,  and  Christ  stands  there  and  says:  “  Well 
done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant;  enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  Lord.” 

Just  think  of  hearing  the  Master  say  it.  Will  not 
that  be  enough  for  everything  ? 

O  friends,  your  turn  and  mine  will  come  by-and-by, 
if  we  are  but  faithful.  Let  us  see  that  we  do  not  lose 
the  crown.  Let  us  awake  and  put  on  the  whole  armor 
of  God;  let  us  press  into  the  conflict;  it  is  a  glorious 
privilege ;  and  then  to  us  too,  as  to  the  glorified  of  old, 
will  come  that  blessed  welcome  from  our  glorified  Lord: 

Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant.” 


r  r 


'jir.  ’.-AV  V-  '  •  .  ' 

W  .j  '■'."*'1  .  ' '  /’■■'' 

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'  •  '  ■  •  •  j  •  '  '■  ‘  '  t  ‘  ‘  ■  V ' 


**  v  '■  ’*'  '•  •'*’  <■  '  •  '  if'i;  ■'^  ■•  '•  '*  •-  *.,■  ■'■j4.'w*^-^  '*• 

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PSALM  23 


JOHN  3:  1—16. 


Lord  is  my  shepherd;  I  shall 
-*•  not  want. 

2  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in 
e^-een  pastures:  he  leadeth  me  beside 
the  still  waters. 

3  He  restoreth  my  soul :  he  leadeth 
me  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for 
his  name’s  sake. 

4  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will 
fear  no  evil:  for  tliou  art  with  me; 
thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me. 

5  Thou  preparest  a  table  before  me 
in  the  presence  of  mine  enemies;  thou 
anointest  my  head  with  oil;  my  cup 
runneth  over. 

6  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  shall 
follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life:  and 
I  will  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
forever. 

ISAIAH  55;  1—7. 

TIO,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come 
ye  to  the  waters,  and  he  that  hath 
no  money;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat;  yea, 
come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without 
money  and  without  price. 

2  Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money  for 
that  which  is  not  bread?  and  your 
labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not? 
hearken  diligently  unto  me,  and  eat 
ye  that  which  is  good,  and  let  your 
soul  delight  itself  in  fatness. 

3  Incline  your  ear,  and  come  unto 
me:  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live; 
and  I  will  make  an  everlasting  cov¬ 
enant  with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies 
of  David. 

4  Behold,  I  have  given  him  for  a 
witness  to  the  people,  a  leader  and 
commander  to  the.»people. 

o  Behold,  thou  shalt  call  a  nation 
that  thou  knowest  not,  and  nations 
that  knew  not  thee  shall  run  unto 
thee,  because  of  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  for  the  Holy  One  of  Israel;  for  he 
hath  glorified  thee. 

6  Reek  j'e  the  Lord  while  he  may 
be  found,  call  ye  upon  him  while  he 
is  near: 

7  Ivet  the  wicked  forsake  his  way, 
and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts: 
and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and 
he  will  have  mercy  upon  him;  and  to 
our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon. 


'T'HERE  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees, 
named  Nicodemus,  a  ruler  of  the 

Jews: 

2  The  same  came  to  Jesus  by  night, 
and  said  unto  him.  Rabbi,  we  know 
that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from 
God;  for  no  man  can  do  these  miracles 
that  thou  doest,  e.xcept  God  be  with 
him, 

3  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him. 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee^  E.xcept 
a  man  be  bom  again,  he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

4  Nicodemus  saith  unto  him.  How 
can  a  man  be  bom  when  he  is  old? 
can  he  enter  the  second  time  into  his 
mother’s  womb,  and  be  bom? 

5  Jesus  answered,  Verily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born 
of  Avater  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Go.d. 

6  That  AA^hich  is  bom  of  the  flesh  is 
flesh;  and  tliat  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is  spirit. 

7  Marv'el  not  that  I  said  unto  thee. 
Ye  must  be  bom  again. 

8  The  Avind  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof, 
but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh, 
and  whither  it  goeth ;  so  is  every  one 
that  is  bom  of  the  Spirit. 

9  Nicodemus  answered  and  said  un¬ 
to  him.  How  can  these  things  be? 

10  Jesus  ansAV'ered  and  said  unto 
him,  Art  thou  a  master  of  Israel,  and 
knoAA'est  not  these  things? 

11  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee, 
We  speak  that  we  do  know,  and  testtfy 
that  Ave  have  seen;  and  ye  receive  not 
our  Avitness. 

12  If  I  have  told  you  earthly  things, 
and  ye  believe  not,  how  shall  ye  be¬ 
lieve,  if  I  tell  you  of  heavenly  things? 

13  And  no  man  hath  ascended  up 
to  heaven,  but  he  that  came  down 
from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man 
which  is  in  heaven. 

14  And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the 
serpent  in  the  Avildemess,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up:_ 

1 5  That  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life. 

Ifi  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
he  gave  his  only  begotten  .Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 


DEPTH  OF  MERCY! 

EPTH  of  mercy!  csan  there  be 
Mercy  still  reserved  for  me? 
Can  my  God  His  wrath  forbear? 

Me,  the  chief  of  sinners,  spare? 

I  have  long  ^vithstood  His  grace, 
I/ong  provoked  Him  to  His  face; 
Would  not  hearken  to  His  calls; 
Grieved  Him  by  a  thousand  falls. 

Now  incline  me  to  repent. 

Let  me  now  my  sins  lament; 

Now  my  foul  revolt  deplore. 
Weep,  believe,  and  sin  no  more, 

*  ❖  * 


I  WAS  A  WAND'RING  SHEEP. 

T  WAS  a  wand’ring  sheep, 

I  did  not  love  the  fold: 

I  did  not  love  my  Shepherd’s  voice, 

I  would  not  be  controlled. 

[  was  a  wayward  child, 

I  did  not  love  my  home; 

I  did  not  love  my  Father’s  voice; 

I  loved  afar  to  roam. 

The  Siepherd  sought  His  sheep, 

'The  Father  sought  His  child, 

They  followed  me  o’er  vale  and  hill. 
O’er  deserts  waste  and  ^v^ld; 

They  found  me  nigh  to  death. 
Famished  and  faint,  and  lone; 

They  bound  me  with  the  bands  of  love ; 
l^ey  saved  the  wand’ring  one. 

Jesus  my  Shepherd  is, 

’Twas  He  that  loved  my  soul, 

'Twas  He  that  washed  me  in  His  blood, 
’Twas  He  that  made  me  whole; 

’Twas  He  that  sought  the  lost. 

That  found  the  wand’ring  sheep, 

’Twas  He  that  brought  me  to  the  fold, 
’Tis  He  that  still  doth  keep. 

I  was  a  wand’ring  sheep, 

I  would  not  be  controlled; 

But  now  I  love  the  Shepherd’s  voice, 

I  love,  I  love  the  fold; 

I  was  a  wayward  child, 

I  once  prefeiTed  to  roam: 

But  now  I  love  my  Father’s  voice, 

I  love,  I  love  His  home 


WHAT  A  FRIEND  WE  HAVE  IN 
JESUS! 

^^lAT  a  Friend  we  have  in  Jesus, 

”  All  our  sins  and  griefs  to  bear! 

What  a  privilege  to  cany 

Ev’rything  to  God  in  prayer! 

0  what  peace  we  often  forfeit, 

O  what  needless  pain  we  hear. 

All  because  we  do  not  cany 
Ey’rything  to  God  in  prayer. 

Have  we  trials  and  temptations? 

Is  there  trouble  anywhere? 

We  should  never  be  discouraged. 

Take  it  to  the  Lord  in  prayer. 

Can  we  find  a  friend  so  faithful. 

Who  will  all  our  sonows  share? 

Jesus  knows  our  ev’iy  weakness. 

Take  it  to  the  Lord  in  prayer. 

Are  we  weak  and  heavy  laden. 
Cumbered  with  a  load  of  care? 

Precious  Saviour,  still  our  refuge, — 
Take  it  to  the  Lord  in  prayer. 

Do  thy  friends  despise,  forsake  thee? 
Take  it  to  the  Lord  in  prayer. 

In  His  arms  He’ll  take  and  shield  thee 
Thou  wilt  find  a  solace  there. 

,  ♦  ♦ 


O  HAPPY  DAY! 

O  HAPPY  day  that  fixed  my  choice 
On  Thee,  my  Saviour  and  my  God  I 
Well  may  this  glowing  heart  rejoice. 
And  tell  its  raptures  all  abroad. 

CHORUS: 

Happy  day,  happy  day. 

When  Jesus  washed  my  sins  away! 
He  taught  me  how  to  watch  and  pray. 
And  live  rejoicing  every  day; 

Happy  day,  happy  day, 

When  Jesus  washed  my  sin  away! 

0  happy  bond  that  seals  my  vows 
To  Him  who  merits  all  my  love! 

Let  cheerful  anthems  fill  His  house. 
While  to  that  sacred  shrine  I  move. 

’Tis  dope,  the  great  transaction’s  done; 

I  am  my  Lord’s  and  He  is  mine; 

He  drew  me,  and  I  followed  on. 

Charmed  to  confess  the  voice  divine. 


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JUST  AS  I  AM. 

UST  as  I  am,  without  one  plea 
But  that  Thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  Thou  bid’st  me  come  to  Thee; 
0  Ijamb  of  God,  I  come,  I  come! 

Just  as  I  am,  and  waiting  not 
To  rid  my  soul  of  one  dark  blot. 

To  Thee,  whose  blood  can  cleanse  each 

spot, 

0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come,  I  come! 

Just  as  I  am — Thou  wilt  receive. 

Wilt  welcome,  pardon,  cleanse, 
relieve; 

Because  Thy  promise  I  believe, 

0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come,  I  come! 

Just  as  I  am — Thy  love  unknown 
Has  broken  ev’rj’-  bander  dowm ; 

Now  to  be  Thine,  yea.  Thine  alone, 

O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come,  I  come! 

JESUS.  LOVER  OF  MY  SOUL. 

JEISUS,  Lover  of  my  soul. 

Let  me  to  Thy  bosom  fly 
While  the  nearer  waters  roll. 

While  the  tempest  still  is  high! 
Hide  n>e,  0  my  Saviour,  hide 
Till  the  storm  of  life  is  past; 

Safe  Into  the  haven  guide; 

0  receive  my  soul  at  last! 

Other  refuge  have  I  none. 

Hangs  my  helpless  soul  on  Thee; 
Leave,  0  leave  me  not  alone. 

Still  support  and  comfort  me! 

All  my  trust  on  Thee  is  stayed, 

All  my  help  from  Thee  I  bring; 
Cover  my  defenceless  head 

With  the  shadow  of  Thy  wing! 

Thou,  0  Christ,  art  all  I  want. 

More  than  all  in  Thee  I  find! 

Raise  the  fallen,  cheer  the  faint. 

Heal  the  sick,  and  lead  the  blind. 
Just  and  holy  is  Thy  name, 

I  am  all  unrighteousness; 

False  and  full  of  sin  I  am. 

Thou  art  full  of  truth  and  grace. 

Plenteous  grace  with  Thee  is  found, 
Grace  to  cover  all  my  sin; 

Let  the  healing  streams  abound. 

Make  and  keep  me  pure  within; 
Tbou  of  life  the  fountain  art, 

Preelv  let  me  take  of  Thee; 

Spring  Thou  up  within  my  heart. 

Rise  to  all  eternity. 


BEHOLD  A  STRANGER. 

15EH0LD  a  Stranger  at  the  door: 

He  gently  knocks,  has  knocked 
before ; 

Has  waited  long,  is  waiting  still: 

You  treat  no  other  friend  so  ill. 

Oh,  lovely  attitude!  He  stands 
With  melting  heart  and  laden  hands; 
Oh,  matchless  kindness!  and  He  shows 
This  matchless  kindness  to  His  foes. 

But  will  He  prove  a  friend  indeed? 
He  willj  the  very  friend  3mu  need — 
The  Friend  of  sinners;  j'es,  ’tis  He, 
With  garments  dyed  on  C^vary. 

Rise,  touched  with  gratitude  divine. 
Turn  out  His  enemy  and  thine; 

That  soul-destroying  monster,  sin; 

And  let  the  heavenly  Stranger  in. 


GLORY  TO  HIS  NAME! 

WN  at  the  cross  where  my  Saviour 
died, 

Dowm  where  for  cleansing  from  sin  I 
cried. 

There  to  my  heart  was  the  blood 
applied — 

Glory  to  His  name! 

CHORUS: 

Glory  to  His  name. 

Glory  to  His  name! 

There  to  my  heart  was  the  blood 
applied — 

Glory  to  His  name! 

r  am  sp  wondrously  saved  from  sin, — 

Jesus  so  sweetly  abides  within, — 

There  at  the  cross  where  He  took  me  in — 
Glory  to  His  name! 

0  precious  fountain  that  saves  from 
sin, 

I  am  so  glad  I  have  entered  in; 

There  Jesus  saved  me  and  keeps  me 
clean — 

Glory  to  His  name! 

Come  to  this  fountain  so  ridi  and 
sweet. 

Cast  thy  poor  soul  at  the  Saviour’s 
feet, 

plunge  in  today,  and  be  made  com¬ 
plete — 

Glory  to  His  name! 


I 


Jl 


WORD  OF  LIFE  HOUR 

Jack  Wyrt2en,  Director 
Box  511 

New  York  8,  New  York 


